


Neighbours

by suzvoy



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Domestic Fluff, Falling In Love, Fluff, Future Fic, Getting Together, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-06 14:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16389530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzvoy/pseuds/suzvoy
Summary: Reid's life is going absolutely fine. Just perfectly...fine.And then Luke moves in next door.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, it's an American soap fic named after an Australian soap. Fitting! ;) Luke/Reid future fic. They're both a little older when they meet. Rated PG-13. Fictional hospital, fictional medicine/insurance crap. Let's pretend it actually works this way. Hey, it's a soap ;)
> 
> Thank you so, so much to my wonderful nel and d for their constant encouragement and ideas <3 <3 <3 Thank you to the LuRe fandom. We're tiny, but we exist!
> 
> This is incredibly sappy. And unbelievably fluffy. It's so sweet, your teeth might actually fall out. Enjoy!
> 
> Feedback would be fabulous.

Someone was moving in next door.

Reid hadn't caught a glimpse of them – hadn't even set foot outside his apartment. The only reason he knew was the constant sound of footsteps going back and forth past his apartment, the occasional sound of something clearly heavy being shifted, and the voices calling out to each other.

It was incredibly irritating.

Reid didn't get a lot of time off work, what with long shifts and being on-call most of the time. True, that was usually the way he preferred things, but on his one day off a week he definitely appreciated not being disturbed by something so freaking annoying. He wasn't close to any of his neighbours, with one possible exception, but it was a good apartment building in a decent area. One thing they all seemed to agree on was that good neighbours should only occasionally be seen, and never heard. That was part of the reason it was the place he'd lived the longest in, short of the house he grew up in.

Acknowledging, however, that even he had once had a moving day and that it was a necessary evil, Reid tried to brush his irritation aside and just focus on typing up his paper.

Five minutes later he was pulling open his door to complain.

It was perfect timing, too, as one of the moving guys was heading towards him lugging a heavy-looking box.

“Look,” Reid began, “I know you need to do your thing,” he waved a hand towards the box, “but could you at least try to keep it down? I'm busy in here and I'm pretty sure Rosie on the top floor can hear all your stomping around – and she's deaf.”

“Sorry,” the guy said, making an apologetic face as he paused near Reid. “Nearly done now, though. Just a couple more boxes and then I'll be all moved in and out of your hair.”

Reid processed his words. “You're the new neighbour?”

“Yeah!” he said with a smile, seeming to remember his manners as he carefully put the box down before standing back up and holding out an enthusiastic hand. “Hi, I'm Luke. Nice to meet you, neighbour.”

Ignoring the hand, Reid just stared at Luke instead. He was attractive enough in that annoyingly wholesome way, obviously worked out and was wearing comfortable-looking jeans and a shirt that fitted too-well but had obviously seen better days.

He also had sweat stains under his pits and Reid decided that was the most important thing to focus on.

“Didn't you hire a moving service?” If he could afford to live in this neighbourhood, he easily had the money for it.

“Oh, sure,” Luke replied, lowering his hand. “But Frederico put his back out not long after they arrived, so I said I'd pitch in. Pulled some old clothes out of a box and here I am.”

Of course he had.

“I didn't catch your name,” he continued.

That was because Reid hadn't given it. “Keep it down,” he said, and shut the door.

Going back to his paper, he was pleased to quickly discover that Luke was true to his word as after less than ten minutes, the tromping back and forth had stopped.

But then the yelling started. Right outside his door.

“Hey, Miguel!” Luke yelled. “Here are those drinks I promised you! Sorry they're not chilled!”

Yanking open the door, Reid found Luke standing literally less than a foot away.

“Hi, neighbour,” he greeted innocently, holding the cans of soda in question. “Something I can do for you?”

Reid ground his teeth together, not buying the innocent act. “This is how it's gonna be?”

“That depends on you,” Luke retorted, at least having the balls to own up to his actions. “I don't expect us to be best friends, but we live right next to each other. I do expect you treat me like a human being.”

That was only fair, Reid was forced to admit, and having his literal next door neighbour pissed at him could only end up causing him trouble. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he gave in. “Reid.”

Luke was all smiles again. “Nice to meet you, Reid. If you need anything – milk, sugar, a kick up the backside?” he asked brightly. “Don't hesitate to ask.”

He left, then, probably to go and give the drinks to the delivery guys.

Reid absolutely watched his ass the entire way.

*

Leaving the building for work the next morning, Reid was double checking his mailbox when he heard the door to the street buzzing and opening behind him.

“Morning,” an already-familiar voice said, and Reid turned to see his new neighbour walking into the building.

Where Luke was coming from at this time in the morning was anybody's guess. “At least your observation skills are on point,” Reid told him as he finished locking up his mailbox.

Luke smirked at him. “Not a morning person, I take it.”

That was a ridiculous statement. Reid excelled at any time of the day. “Not a talking person, more like.” He brushed quickly by Luke as he headed for the exit.

“I dunno,” Luke called out after him, “something tells me you like the sound of your own voice.”

Reid pressed his lips together, fighting the urge to smile and decided that he hated Luke...whatever the hell his last name was.

Work ended up being fairly decent. His colleagues weren't completely incompetent and he got to operate which still, to this day, was the most amazing thing he ever got to do. Despite how good he was at his job – and he was damn good at his job – sometimes, privately, he still couldn't quite believe this was what he got to do for a living. He'd worked hard to get there, no doubt, but the brain never stopped being fascinating, that tangled mess of grey spaghetti that controlled literally everything.

Though he'd never tell anyone, Reid still got nervous at the start of every surgery – but once it began, nerves, emotion and everything fled, all that was left was the adrenalin helping him focus, finishing the job at hand in the best way possible.

That was also the reason he was usually exhausted after every surgery, too.

He was on the sofa, half-snoozing after his post-surgery yoga routine – something his body appreciated as he was currently barrelling towards forty at great speed – when a knock sounded at the door.

Now fully awake, Reid blinked his eyes wide open, rubbing at his face as he dragged himself from the sofa and stumbled over to the door. Brain still a little foggy, he was mid-yawn when he opened the door.

Luke was standing there, smiling brightly, which made Reid's mood tank. But then he realised Luke seemed to be holding a plastic tub of...food?

Which made Reid's mood go right back up again.

“Hi,” Luke said. “My Grandma Emma sent a gift package and there are way too many cookies for me to eat by myself before they spoil, so...” he shoved the tub towards Reid. “Here.”

Reid stared at the tub dumbly, trying to comprehend how and why this could possibly be happening. “You don't even like me.”

“Because you were a dick,” Luke agreed easily. “But even dick's get cookies when there are just too many. Don't worry, Reid,” he soon assured him, “you're not special. I'm gonna hand some out to the rest of the people on our floor too.”

That was remarkably neighbourly. Reid didn't know how he felt about this. They mostly did a pretty good job of ignoring each other – or at least Reid. It did make more sense to him, however, that he wasn't being singled out. “What flavour?”

“Chocolate chip, the classic.”

Reid just couldn't agree with that. “I dunno, I always found oatmeal and raisin far more appetising.” He'd said it without thinking, as always, but when he noticed Luke's expression he realised just how the comment could've been taken. “I'm actually not trying to be a dick. About the free cookies. That your Grandmother made for you.” Reid clutched the tub tighter just in case Luke tried to yank it back.

Why the hell was he explaining himself, anyway?

Luke was just studying him instead. He might have even been looking amused. “You don't talk to people much, do you?”

He talked a lot, actually, but mostly about brains. “I did tell you that this morning.”

“You did,” he conceded. “I guess sometimes you are saying something worthwhile.”

Reid was aware he'd just been insulted, but at this point he didn't want to say or do anything that'd get the cookies taken away. “Thanks?”

“You're welcome,” Luke grinned quickly, “for the compliment and the cookies. Just return the tub whenever you're done with it. See you around,” he added as he headed off, towards the corner that'd take him to...

Nah. Reid couldn't let that happen. “Luke?” Turning around, Luke's face asked the silent question. “Don't give any to Jake in 4C,” Reid explained. “He'd probably take it the wrong way and get a little...handsy.”

Expression morphing into understanding, Luke nodded his thanks. “Thanks for the heads up.”

Nodding in response, Reid moved back into his apartment and closed the door. Peeling off the lid to the tub, he inhaled the inviting smell of home-made cookies and his mouth practically watered.

He definitely deserved some of these tonight.

*

They were the best damn cookies he'd ever eaten. In his entire life. _Ever_.

Reid liked food, a lot. He couldn't indulge now the way he had when he was younger, perhaps, but he'd eaten more than his fair share of cookies in his life. These were, unquestionably, the best. He didn't even know what else she'd put in them, chocolate chip should've been a very simple recipe, but they were seriously addictive. Hell, if Luke's Grandma packaged them up and started selling them she'd make a bundle – from Reid alone.

Unfortunately he didn't know – and would probably never know – Luke's Grandmother personally, so it wasn't like he'd have a constant supply of them coming in. There was only one way to make sure he always had some when needed.

A few days later, when he was sure Luke was home – he heard footsteps go past his apartment, then the door closing next door – he waited all of five minutes before knocking on Luke's door, cookie tub in hand.

“Oh, hey,” he greeted with a small smile. He was dressed casually, but now that Reid thought about it, Luke was always dressed casually. Reid still had no idea what he did. “Did you enjoy them?”

Reid never lied about anything as serious as good food. “They were, without a doubt, the best damn cookies I've ever had.”

“Wow, they're even better than oatmeal and raisin?” When Reid rolled his eyes, Luke's smile finally turned genuine. “Grandma will be delighted to hear that.”

Huh. “She knows I exist?”

“Sure,” he said easily. “As a family, we Snyder's tend to share a lot. Sometimes overshare,” he admitted, expression turning chagrined.

Luke probably came from some huge, loving family, who got into each other's business and all got together every major holiday.

Doing a mental shudder, Reid couldn't imagine anything worse. A few close loved ones would be far more his scene.

And apparently, now, he knew Luke's surname (not that he'd made a point to look at Luke's name on his mailbox. Or anything). “Well, as you Snyder's are so fond of sharing...any chance your Grandma Emma would feel up to sharing her awesome cookie recipe?”

Looking surprised for a moment, Luke's expression soon turned pensive. “I don't know,” he began carefully. “It's a Snyder family secret going back decades. How do I know you can be trusted?”

Yeah, Reid decided this was an act. Sometimes even he was good at reading people. “You're mocking me now.”

“A little,” he admitted, scrunching his nose up good-naturedly. “But yeah, I'm sure Grandma would have no problem at all letting you have the recipe. In fact, if you want to come in for a minute, I'll text her right now.”

“Oh, that's really not-” But Luke had already gone, retreating further into his apartment and leaving the door open in obvious invitation. “Okay, then,” Reid finished, peering longingly down the corridor at his own apartment, then steeled himself to follow inside.

The basic layout of Luke's place was, of course, the same as Reid's. It did feel a lot homier, though. He'd only been there a few days and it felt like he'd been there for years already. It wasn't rammed with stuff but it wasn't spartan, either, which was Reid's preference. There was no denying, either way, that Luke's apartment felt...warmer.

He found Luke in the kitchen, closing a cupboard door before pulling a phone out from his jeans. Leaning against the counter, he started talking at the same time as he started texting. “So you cook, huh?”

“From scratch,” Reid nodded, “when I can be bothered.” He was often too tired to cook the way he really liked after work, but there was definitely something satisfying about starting with nothing, putting everything together in just the right way, and producing something that tasted amazing.

Putting his phone down, Luke shook his head at himself. “I can boil water. Use a microwave. That's about it.”

“That's remarkably unhealthy,” Reid advised. “I know you're still,” he looked Luke over, “young, but-”

“I'm not that young.”

“Oh, please,” he retorted, “you're – what? 22? 23?”

“27,” Luke responded, which surprised Reid into silence for a moment. “You?”

It took him a few moments to realise Luke was asking the same question. “Oh. 39. Anyway,” he continued, because this point was well worth making, “because I am that age, trust me when I say that you need to stop eating that ready-made crap, the sooner the better. Your body will thank you for it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Luke gave in, scratching an ear. “I do need to look after myself, I know that. That's part of the reason I moved away from family, to be honest with you. It was so easy, there, relying on Grandma to make dinner, or just popping into Al's to grab a burger whenever I had a spare moment. At least here I can't fall back on that, you know?” Chuckling to himself, he stood back from the counter. “Don't suppose you have any recipe books I can use?”

“Uh, no,” Reid said. “It's all...” he gestured towards his head.

“Right,” Luke understood. “There's gotta be tons of recipes on the internet anyway.”

“I'm sure,” he agreed, because he was. Hell, there were websites for everything – Reid had seen things no mortal man should ever have to witness. Luke was sure to find what he needed.

“I also wanted to thank you properly,” Luke continued, “about the guy in 4C.”

“It was nothing.”

“No, it wasn't nothing,” he argued. “How long have you lived here?”

Reid did a quick calculation. “Nearly six years.”

Luke nodded as he took this in. “So you've lived here a lot longer than I have. You know all this stuff. I've only met a couple of my neighbours so far – though there's this one guy? Acts like a total jerk but is just a softy underneath, really.”

Reid narrowed his eyes at Luke's innocent grin. How dare _anyone_ call him a 'softy'? “What's your point?”

“Simple – is there anything else I need to know about my new neighbours?”

He may have not been the best person to ask. “I'm not exactly friends with them-”

“Colour me surprised.”

Reid gestured back towards the door. “I could just leave-”

“Okay, okay,” Luke surrendered, holding up a hand. “I'll stop. Please,” he continued, “anything you think I need to know would be...greatly appreciated.”

After thinking for a little while, Reid told Luke about Rosie, whose husband had died twenty years ago and she'd never moved on. About Jake, who'd made the mistake of grabbing Reid's ass, once, and got a dressing down about consent the likes of which he'd probably never had before or since. He told Luke about Becca, who'd moved in to care for her dying sister who insisted on staying in her apartment. About Steve, who worked at an upscale gym, but for some unfathomable reason insisted on wearing skin-tight lycra at all hours of the day and night. And about Jessica, who was doing the full-on cat lady thing, but with stuffed animals instead of living cats, because there were no pets allowed in their building.

“There are more, of course,” Reid finished, “but those are the ones I know anything about.”

Luke's eyes had become wider and wider as Reid had gone on. “Actual stuffed animals? Like...taxidermy? Not just...toys shaped like animals?”

“Nope,” Reid disappointed him, “I mean actual taxidermy.”

Visibly shuddering – perhaps with some over-exaggeration – Luke reached for his phone when it pinged. “There we are, Grandma said yes already. She's gonna e-mail me the recipe,” he explained, looking back at Reid, “and she also says she'd love to try some of yours when you make them.”

But...he...they were going to be _his_ cookies. She wanted him to _share?_ “Um, okay. I guess.” That seemed like an awful lot of effort just to try some cookies.

“I'm guessing you've never sent a care package before,” Luke said perceptively. “It's easy,” he promised, slapping Reid on the arm. “When the time comes, I'll walk you through it.”

Reid just stared at his arm in shock.

Noticing the reaction, Luke's eyes widened. “Sorry, I-if that bothered you. I did it without thinking, I know I shouldn't have, some people don't like-”

He couldn't deal with the freak out. “It's fine. Just a surprise.”

After giving Luke his own e-mail address so he could pass the recipe on, Reid left after that because that'd been enough social interaction for him for a decade, but also because the slap on the arm had freaked him out.

He didn't realise why until later, when he was trying – and failing – to sleep.

Jake's ass-grab and nurses assisting in surgery aside, when was the last time anyone – anyone at all – had touched him?

*

The next time he saw Luke in more than just passing, he was behind him in the queue at the local coffee place.

“Hey, Reid,” he said with a smile that was even bigger than usual. “God, what a beautiful day it is. I've just been walking in the park, a few blocks down? Definitely one of the reasons I chose this part of town, not gonna lie.”

Reid had never been an outdoor person, and had been to that park precisely three times. “Eh, I'm not really a fan of...air.”

Luke looked at him like he was crazy – or at least different to every other human, which was really something he should've been aware of by now. “How can you not love going outside? Not even just because of the air, but when it's a beautiful day and you can feel the sun on your skin? Always improves my mood.”

Reid made a face. “Not really a fan of melanomas either.”

“Sun lotion is a thing,” Luke argued. “And I'm not saying stand out there all day, but...” he gestured. “Reminds me a little of home, I guess. My dad's a horse trainer and there was always so much open space as a kid. Living in a city is...” he made a face, “an adjustment.”

“This is your first time in a city?”

“I've been to a bunch of different cities,” Luke replied, “even a bunch of different countries, now. But they were just visits, for personal reasons or for work. Knowing this is actually where I live now?” he asked rhetorically. “Yeah, it's...different.” An alarm sounded from the pocket of his jeans. Grabbing the phone from his pocket, Luke cursed softly and tapped the screen. “It's later than I thought, I gotta go – gonna miss an appointment.” He started booking it out of there. “Later, Reid! Enjoy the sun!”

Reid, of course, had every intention of completely ignoring Luke's advice. However, when he was forced to stop at a crosswalk and had to just stand there, coffee in hand...he may have closed his eyes. Tipped his head up towards the sky. And just felt the sun on his skin.

It did feel pretty good.

*

A few weeks later, Reid was convinced he was having the worst day to ever grace humankind. Work had been hectic lately, so he was only just getting around to the cookie baking he so badly wanted to do. He'd been on his way to the grocery store when his beeper went off about a neuro-trauma. He'd done everything he could, of course, but a 9 year-old girl had coded on his table, a devastated mother had screamed in his face, and now all he wanted to do was eat some of his favourite damn cookies.

And he didn't have a single fucking egg.

He'd made it all the way home before remembering the shopping and could in no way be bothered to head back out there right now, not when the world was sucking so much.

Not even a minute later he was knocking on Luke's door. By Luke's own admission he was no cook, but if could boil water he could boil an egg, so there was always a chance he might have some.

It was lucky he'd moved in at all, really, because the only other person Reid would've even thought about asking was Rosie, and she was all the way on the top floor.

When the door swung open Reid already had his mouth open to ask – but then he took one look at Luke and something entirely different came out. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks, Reid,” Luke said with an eye roll, but the point stood. Reid had never seen Luke look anything other than healthy, even vibrant.

Now his pallor was all wrong, he looked sweaty and exhausted and was draped in a blanket.

“Did you need something? I'm waiting for a cab, so-”

“Forget about that,” Reid interrupted, stepping inside and shutting the door. “What's wrong with you?”

“I don't know for sure,” Luke admitted, “but my doctor wanted to try me on some new meds.” He gestured towards a small coffee table, where Reid could see a collection of pill bottles, some folded pieces of paper and Luke's phone. “I think it's safe to say it's not working out.”

Picking up a couple of the bottles, Reid quickly scanned the labels, recognising the names of the drugs and what it meant. “Organ transplant?”

“Kidney,” Luke confirmed, before frowning. “How do you know-?”

“I'm a doctor. You should be sitting down,” he ordered, reaching for the nearest wrist to check Luke's pulse.

“You're a doctor. That explains so much,” because even now, he just had to tease Reid. “Would've been handy to know before, though.”

“Not really,” Reid shrugged, leaning in to hear what he could of Luke's breathing. “Not a nephrologist.”

“What is your specialty?”

“Neurology. Please sit down,” he repeated, because at the very least it'd make Reid feel better.

“It's okay, really,” Luke assured him, even though it looked like he was swaying on his freaking feet. “I don't feel great but I spoke to my doctor already, he told me to take myself and the meds to the hospital to be on the safe side, it'll be-whoa,” he finished, as he practically lurched towards Reid and seemed to have no control of his body whatsoever. “Okay,” he finally admitted, as Reid was clearly now the only thing keeping him upright. “Maybe there's an issue.”

No shit. “You think?”

Reid was all set to dump Luke on the sofa himself and call an ambulance – cost be damned – when Luke spoke again, leaning against him heavily.

“Call my dad, okay,” he said seriously, holding Reid's gaze though his body was shivering. “ _Just_ my dad, Holden Snyder, my passcode is 5-6-7-8.”

“That's your passcode? Oh my God, you're a moron-”

“My insurance information's on the table. And you're gonna be there, right?” Luke interrupted, and it seemed to be hard for him to choose his words. “In the hospital?” His fingers flexed on Reid's arms as he stared up at him desperately. “You're my only friend, Dr Oliver.”

And even Reid knew, then, that he couldn't deny that he gave a shit about Luke. Not right now. “I'll be there. You're my only friend too, Mr Snyder. Though, admittedly, that's less surprising than you not have any other friends.”

Luke managed to chuckle, once. He managed to say, “Good.”

And then he passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that this is not at all meant to be an accurate reflection of how medical/insurance crap works. Ahem.

Reid let himself freak the fuck out for a few seconds before moving on. This was no different than an emergency situation at the hospital and he was a professional, he could cope with this. Easily.

It'd just never involved anyone he gave a crap about, before.

Carefully lowering Luke to the floor – the sofa may have been more comfortable, but a completely flat surface was preferable – he moved him into the recovery position then called 911.

When he was finally through he started speaking, explaining his need for an ambulance and giving their address and Luke's apartment number. He started listing information before she even asked.

“Luke Snyder, 27 year-old male, unconscious for,” he glanced at his watch, “nearly three minutes now. Had a kidney transplant some time ago, suspect it's a reaction to the new meds his doctor gave him. He was pale, sweaty and shivering before losing consciousness.”

“Okay, sir, the ambulance is on it's way. Do you have any more details that'll help us?”

Reid glanced at the table. “I have his insurance information, if that's what you mean.”

“No, sir, I didn't-”

“He's breathing comfortably, his airway is clear. And I have his meds,” he focused on the pill bottles. “I think it's all the medication he's currently on. I'll bring them in with me, obviously.” Reid had every intention of making the journey with him.

“Good, thank you, sir. Uh, are you doctor?”

“Reid Oliver, I'm a neurologist at Dallas General.”

“Well then Mr Snyder's lucky to be in good hands,” she said, obviously trying to be reassuring but this small talk was just a waste of time.

“Look, is there anything else you need from me?”

She got right back to business. “Just for you to make sure that the EMTs will have easy access to the building – make sure all the doors are open.”

Reid could do that. He didn't want to leave Luke unsupervised but he wasn't about to go knocking on Jake's door for help, either. Fortunately, when the elevator doors pinged open Rosie was standing inside. _Perfect_. Reid immediately started signing at her, explaining the situation as best he could. He'd learned a few years ago, courtesy of a kid who'd been a long-term patient. It'd made understanding her issues and pain a hell of a lot easier, and there was no denying there were times it still came in useful, even now.

Case in point.

Eyes widening in surprise, Rosie signed back her understanding and agreed to stay with Luke until Reid got back. As she stepped out of the elevator, he brought the fingers of his right hand up to his chin, then moved his hand down and forward. Nodding in response, Rosie smiled and headed off to Luke's apartment.

His concern somewhat alleviated, Reid nonetheless hammered the button for the first floor. He didn't see anyone else from their building, and ended up dragging a large potted plant across from the foyer to prop the main door open.

When he got back to Luke's apartment, Rosie was carefully kneeling on the ground next to him. When Reid put a hand on her shoulder, she turned and signed that there'd been no change. Reid rebuked her, in sign, for getting down on her knees and after he helped her back up, she insisted on staying but did agree to wait on the sofa.

It felt like forever until the ambulance arrived. Reid killed the time by opening the cupboard he'd seen Luke closing a while back and taking the now-empty cookie tub out. Peeling off the lid, he put it down on the table and started placing all of Luke's meds and his insurance information inside.

Once the lid was back on he reached for Luke's phone, deciding he might as well make the call now while he had nothing to do other than worry. At least he'd be doing something worthwhile.

A frail hand on his arm made his pause, just as shocking now as the arm slap from Luke had been.

 _You care about him,_ Rosie signed, probably because it was unusual for Reid to give a damn about anyone.  
_  
He's my friend,_ he signed back.

Smiling sadly, she nodded. _Make sure he knows._

That'd been much more heartfelt than any of their discussions before. The only reason he knew her as well as he did was that she'd been in the elevator with him the time it'd broken down (Reid's previous worst day ever). She'd known by then that Reid knew how to sign, so she'd helped stop him from completely freaking out by telling him all about her husband, Ron, how they'd had twenty-four glorious years together – and how he'd been killed in a hit and run. The story may have not ended happily, perhaps, but it had kept Reid distracted.

He'd had a lot more time for Rosie after that, and though he didn't consider her a friend, per se, she was the only one in the building that he'd choose to spend time with.

Until now.

When Rosie sat back, Reid finally got to make the call. He quickly input Luke's passcode into the phone, mentally rolling his eyes at the idiocy and reminding himself to force Luke to change it when he was better. Luke was probably one of those trusting idiots who used the same password on every single website, too.

He scrolled through the list of contacts until he finally saw the name he was looking for – Holden Snyder – and pressed the call button. Reid had no idea which state Luke was from, if there'd be any time difference or anything – which made him realise that, actually, he didn't know much about Luke at all.

But the important stuff? That, he knew.

Someone finally picked up. “Luke! Hey, kid, good to hear from you again so soon. How's-”

“Holden Snyder?”

There was silence on the other end of the line, but not for long. When Holden spoke again his voice was unsurprisingly terse. “Who is this? Why are you calling from my son's phone?”

“My name's Reid Oliver, I'm Luke's-”

“The neighbour,” Holden interrupted to Reid's surprise. “Is Luke okay?”

This had always been Reid's least favourite part of the job – delivering bad news. It was bad enough giving the news in person and this seemed even worse, somehow, despite the fact he didn't have to look anyone in the eye. “To be honest with you, no. He was feeling unwell and collapsed after telling me to call you. We're waiting for the ambulance now.”

More silence. “Is he conscious?”

Reid grimaced. “No.”

“Is it...his kidney?”

“He thinks it's related, yes.”

“Okay,” Holden said slowly, as if talking to himself, “okay. Which hospital?”

“Probably Dallas General, but if that changes I'll let you know.”

“Okay,” he said again. “I'll be there as soon as I can get a flight out. Hell, I'll steal Lucinda's jet if I have to.”

Holden knew someone who had their own jet? “Okay,” he said randomly, because what did you say to that?

“I'm gonna head straight to the airport,” Holden told him. “Thank you, Reid, really. Luke said he had a good feeling about you. Guess he was right.”

Reid could only stand there, eyebrows raised in surprise, as Holden ended the call.

The EMTs arrived soon after that. One of them recognised him and Reid quickly rattled off everything they needed to know. With Reid's assistance, it wasn't long until they had Luke downstairs and were loading him into the back of the ambulance. Reid didn't ask permission, just climbed in too with Luke's phone in his pocket and the tub of medicine clutched in his hands.

Rosie had followed them down, and her worried face was the last thing he saw before they closed the doors.

Even Reid knew better than to get involved in the back of ambulance – there wasn't a lot of room, and he had to leave the EMTs to do their job. He sure as hell mentally double-checked everything they did, though, and was mostly satisfied when one of them finally climbed into the front and the ambulance started moving.

He even managed to hold himself back when Luke's gurney was taken out at the hospital, too, following closely behind as the EMTs gave Luke's current details to the staff waiting inside. The gurney never stopped moving and when it finally flew through the double-doors marked STAFF ONLY, Reid came to a stop automatically, watching as the doors swung shut behind them.

Then realised exactly what the was doing and remembered that he _worked there_. Shaking his head at himself, he stepped forward, only for a voice to interrupt.

“Sir? Family members or loved ones need to wait- _Dr Oliver?_ ”

“Here,” he said, not even really looking at the guy as he shoved Luke's meds towards him, knowing Luke's details were inside. “Make sure these get to the right place.”

And then he followed Luke through the double doors.

*

Forty minutes later, McFadden finally deigned to turn up.

“Reid,” he said in surprise, pulling the curtain aside. “Luke's not one of yours.”

“No, but he is one of yours. So this,” he gestured to Luke's too-pale, too-still form, now covered in a below average hospital blanket, “is your doing. Did you even bother running a blood test for reaction to the new meds before you just changed his prescription willy nilly?”

“Of course I did,” McFadden replied, sounding offended, “and it wasn't willy-” Stopping, he seemed to take a moment to calm down before speaking again. “Reid, you're not a nephrologist. I am. You can stand here arguing with me, or you can let me do my job and help this young man.”

And. Well. If McFadden was going to start being logical, Reid couldn't really argue with him.

“Good,” he continued, when Reid said nothing, “so maybe you can explain to me what you're doing here, and why I shouldn't have you removed.”

Oh, Reid would just love to see him try. “We live in the same apartment building. I was with him when he passed out. I called it in, rode in with him.”

“I see,” McFadden said as he took the information in. “So your interest in this is less professional and more...personal.” Reaching for the chart hanging off the end of the bed, he muttered, “First time for everything.” Reid narrowed his eyes. “His numbers aren't bad,” McFadden added.

“They're not great, either,” he pointed out. “'Not bad' doesn't cut it.”

“Well he doesn't seem to be in imminent danger of renal failure or acute rejection at the moment, so that's a good starting point. It probably is a reaction to the Azathioprine,” he conceded, “but we'll run the tests to be sure. All being well, once we get him back on MMF he should be fine.”

'Should be' being the operative term.

“I'll be right back,” McFadden announced, before following up with, “oh, and Reid? He's not your patient so as far as I'm concerned you shouldn't be here. However, as a professional courtesy I'll allow you to stay.” He held Reid's gaze meaningfully. “As long as you don't get in my way.”

It chaffed at Reid's every instinct, being 'allowed' to do anything. But his bit his tongue and nodded his head like a good little boy because Luke had asked him to be there so he was damn well going to be there.

A few hours later they got moved, finally, to a room – a private one, even. So either Luke had excellent insurance – which seemed unlikely with the pre-existing condition – or he was loaded and paid into some kind of medical plan.

All Reid knew was that he didn't have to put up with other patients spluttering or constantly making noise, so it could only be a win.

A nurse came in every now and then to check Luke's vitals, inspect his IV. McFadden came in less than that but he was still present, occasionally. By this stage results had started to come back and nobody seemed particularly concerned, convinced Luke would wake in his own time, and even Reid was starting to feel...not as stressed out.

Luke's vitals hadn't got any worse, so he'd stabilised, and while they were all still taking the situation seriously, no one was under the impression that Luke was going to die anytime soon.

Which, Reid thought, was definitely a good thing.

Obviously.

Reid had been mostly failing to doze in the annoyingly uncomfortable chair, when he heard Luke's voice at some un-godly hour of the morning.

“Reid?”

His voice was small, barely there, and Reid was next to him in an instant. “Hey, hey.”

Luke blinked at him slowly. “Am I okay?”

“You're fine,” Reid nodded, “your kidney's fine, it was just a reaction to the Azathioprine. Obviously we need to keep an eye on you, but we're getting some fluids and other stuff into you now.”

Licking his lips, Luke blinked some more. “'k. Know you won't lie to me.”

“That I won't,” Reid agreed.

“Gonna go back to sleep,” Luke announced, moving his head around on the pillow as if to get comfortable. “Thanks for staying.”

“Get some rest,” he replied, because at this point it was what Luke needed most to recover. And he'd rather not confront Luke's second statement right now.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Luke closed his eyes. “Knew you were a softy,” he said drowsily, and there was even a small smile on his lips.

“Whatever, Sleeping Beauty,” Reid retorted. “Nap time for you.”

*

The next morning, when Luke was more coherent and Reid was on approximately his eighth cup of crappy hospital coffee – possibly the worst crime ever committed within the medical industry, and that was saying something – a harried-looking man stepped into Luke's room.

“Luke, thank God,” he breathed out, stepping towards Luke and bending at the other side of the bed to run a hand over Luke's hair. “I've been here for a while but they wouldn't let me in until now. How you doing, kid?”

“Dad,” Luke said, obviously thrilled, though much less energetic than usual. “Fine, I think?” He exchanged a glance with Reid, who nodded his agreement. “You really didn't have to fly out here.”

“Of course I did,” Holden scoffed. “Nothing would've stopped me, okay?” When Luke nodded his acceptance of this, Holden focused on Reid. “So what's the news, doc? The prognosis, right?”

Reid had changed into a lab coat not long after arriving, so the misunderstanding was obvious.

“Oh – no, Dad,” Luke explained. “He's not a – well, he is a doctor, he's just not my doctor. This is Reid.”

Comprehension spread across Holden's features. “We spoke on the phone. I appreciate you calling,” he said honestly, holding a hand out across the bed. “Holden Snyder.”

“Reid Oliver,” he replied, shaking the hand. “I'll, uh, give you some privacy.”

Nodding at them both in turn, Reid was almost at the door when Luke spoke.

“Hey, Reid.” Turning back, he lifted his chin. “Go home, okay?” Luke said. “My Dad's here, now, and...”

Oh. Oh, okay. Reid got it. He wasn't needed anymore.

“...you look like crap, to be honest,” Luke finished with a smirk.

 _That_ was more like it. “Yeah, well I'm not the only one. This is all your fault, you know,” he told Luke, gesturing to his own face.

“Sucks to be you,” Luke shot back, before turning genuine. “Eat something. Get some rest. And come back later, okay?” His voice was hopeful, like he wasn't sure Reid would even agree. “And shave that stuff off your face. I really don't know how I feel about the stubble.”

Reid was pretty sure Holden was snickering as he left the room.

He'd already made it clear to the hospital that he wouldn't be working today and, as far as Reid was concerned, there was nothing they could do about it. He never took time off and he wasn't in any fit state to perform surgery anyway.

All of that might have had something to do with the fact that he couldn't help but notice some members of staff...staring at him. And not in the usual, _ugh, there goes Dr Oliver_ way that some of them had. Some of them were openly whispering to each other as he walked past, too.

He knew it had to do with Luke. Proof that he, too, had someone he cared about. Reid had worked hard to cultivate a certain image at work and while it hadn't won him any friends, he'd almost always found it effective.

That was probably ruined forever, now.

Right now, he didn't even care.

The cab journey home passed in an exhausted daze. At home he had a two minute shower then collapsed into bed, setting his alarm for late afternoon.

When it went off he was up straight away, had a quick shave, dressed, then grabbed his keys and headed for the grocery store. Buying everything he'd need for his patented chicken noodle soup – a cliché, perhaps, but a cliché for a reason – he hoisted it all back up to his apartment and started cooking.

Luke likely wouldn't be in hospital long, beds were always needed, and unless he took a serious nose-dive they'd want him out of there ASAP. Reid had every intention of making sure Luke took his recovery properly, and that included eating better.

Pre-prepared cans of soup were invariably loaded with salt, but Reid's soup? It was delicious and healthy – it was what he ate himself on the rare occasion that he was ill, so he had no qualms at all about Luke eating it.

A couple of hours later the soup was nearly done when there was a knock on the door. Placing a hand towel to one side, Reid looked through the peep hole and opened the door when he saw who it was.

 _Hi,_ he greeted once the door was open.

 _What's the news?_ Rosie demanded.

Reid filled her in on everything that'd happened as she helped him ladle chicken soup into containers. There were plenty of portions but it'd keep well for a few days, if refrigerated and heated properly.

Somehow, between Reid recounting the last day and snapping lids onto plastic containers, Rosie had reached a conclusion.

 _You and Luke,_ she signed. _You want more._

Reid froze for a moment. _He's my friend._

 _Look at all you did,_ Rosie pointed out, gesturing to the mess that was currently his kitchen.

He really did not like where this was heading. _I barely know him. I don't even know if he likes guys._

 _And yet look at all you did,_ she repeated. _Reid,_ she fixed him with a knowing look, _though your heart is bigger than you show, you do not do this. For anybody. You want more_ , she stated again, then finished by pointing towards his heart. _Sometimes we feel a connection to someone, someone we barely know yet. And we know we could be something amazing, together._

Reid knew, immediately, that she was thinking about her husband. _I don't think-_

Rosie wasn't having it, signing at the same time. _You think too much. Maybe concentrate on how you feel for once._

Reid wasn't quite sure how it happened, but within minutes he'd somehow been kicked out of his own apartment with instructions to go and see Luke at the hospital.

He just got in his car and started driving, because he honestly didn't know what else to do. He got stuck in traffic for a while which, though annoying, did give him time to think. Was Rosie right? He had been attracted to, drawn to Luke right from the beginning, even when he didn't want to be. Seeing Luke had become the secret highlight of his day.

But he was right, too. He and Luke really didn't know each other that well. He had a pretty good read on the kind of man Luke was by now, but those personal details, that personal history was practically non-existent. Luke seemed close to his family. His dad was a horse trainer. That was literally all he knew. He didn't even know what Luke did for a living, for crying out loud.

By the time he made it all the way back to Luke's hospital room, Reid was still no closer to deciding anything.

Perhaps fortunately, Luke was asleep.

“Hey,” Holden greeted quietly from the chair, inspecting Reid intently. “I think Luke was right about the stubble.”

Reid rolled his eyes – Luke's sense of humour was obviously genetic. “How's he doing?”

“Good, so they say.”

Picking up Luke's chart to check for himself, Reid nodded in satisfaction. “All his numbers are going in the right direction. So long as he doesn't pick up an infection, he should keep improving. Has McFadden been in recently?”

“The nephrologist?” At Reid's nod, he kept talking. “Yeah, not long ago, he basically said the same thing. I wanted to thank you,” he added, “for everything you did for Luke.”

“That's really not necessary-”

“But is it,” Holden insisted. “Too many people these days only look out for themselves, they're only in it for number one. You went above and beyond. I know you staying here last night...” he glanced over to Luke's sleeping form, “...meant a lot to him.”

Reid never knew how to deal with praise that had nothing to do with surgery. “He's my friend. Kind of.” Because thanks to Rosie, he wasn't really sure what Luke was now. There was no clear definition. He wasn't really a friend because they barely knew each other. He wasn't more than a friend for the same reason. But he wasn't nothing either.

Luke was...something.

Holden looked entirely too amused. “Well your friend's, kind of, Dad is very grateful.”

Yeah. Definitely genetic.

Though he found out, not much later, that couldn't have been true. They'd got into a discussion about why Luke had needed the transplant in the first place. Holden said something about 'personal issues' which Reid took to mean alcohol – the way Holden was talking around the subject made it obvious. Eventually Holden said,

“I'll never forget how devastated I was the first time it really sunk in that I'd never be able to donate a kidney to him.”

“Not a match?” Reid asked.

“Not his biological father,” Holden corrected to Reid's great surprise. “Always loved him like he was, though,” he continued, smiling down at Luke fondly. “I'm so proud of the man he's turned into. He's been through so much, but he's still such a kind, considerate person.”

“I dunno,” Reid drawled, because it was all getting a bit too emotional for him, “he has terrible opinions on facial hair.”

Huffing out a laugh that turned into a yawn, Holden shook his head. “Okay, I need coffee.”

“What you need is a break,” Reid pointed out. “I needed one and let's face it, Mr Snyder, you're not exactly a spring chicken.”

Holden didn't even look offended – he seemed more amused than anything. “You realise that we're probably closer in age than you and Luke are.”

Yeah, that was really not something Reid needed – or wanted – to think about. “That makes me feel so much better, thank you. But seriously,” he pressed on, “go stretch your legs, get some real food somewhere, not the swill they serve in this place.” Reid knew from experience how terrible it was. “I'm not going anywhere.”

“No,” Holden said carefully, staring at Reid perceptively, “no, I don't think you are.”

*

Reid got back to work the next day. He worked in the same building so it wasn't like he was a million miles away, and planned on checking in with Luke at every opportunity.

Life decided to screw with those plans in the form of a 32 year-old man who hadn't been wearing his seat belt.

Hours later, exhausted, he finally made it into Luke's room just as a nurse was coming out.

Luke was sitting up in bed and definitely looked a lot better. “Hi,” he said, turning from his conversation with Holden, and the smile that had been forming on his face stalled into a frown, instead. “Are you okay?”

“Just got out of an emergency surgery,” he explained, cricking his head from side to side. “Couldn't get here sooner.”

“I'd say working on someone's brain takes priority,” Holden pointed out. “Did they make it?”

“They're alive,” Reid offered, letting his hands rest in the pockets of his lab coat. “That's about it. On the bright side they'll probably never be aware enough again to hate their new life as a vegetable. Wear seat belts,” he emphasised, “always.”

Holden looked a little shocked at the way Reid had phrased that, but as far he was concerned this was the kind of thing that should never be sugar-coated. Plus, if Holden planned on sticking around for a while he was going to have to get used to Reid's personality sooner rather than later.

Seeming determined to raise the mood in the room, Luke pasted on a smile as Reid reached for his chart. “You know the nurses have been telling me all about you?” Pausing at this news, Reid flicked his gaze back to Luke. It was probably some of their usual horror stories, trying to scare him off. “Vanessa told me that dogs are your favourite animals.”

Definitely a horror story.

“Pugs, to be specific,” Holden added, who was doing a bad job of hiding his own grin. Actually, he probably wasn't even trying.

Reid had no idea who Vanessa even was, before realising she was likely the nurse who'd scarpered when he'd arrived. “Nurse Simpson should know better than to gossip about other members of staff.” How the hell had she found out about the pug thing? “And it's not so much they're my favourite dog and more to do with how humans have – as usual – ruined everything through over-breeding and now they can barely breathe. Not the only breed that's happened to, by the way. Plus,” he focused back on Luke's numbers intently, they were definitely improving, “we had a pug when I was a kid.”

“What was it's name?” Luke asked eventually.

“Her name was Spock,” Reid said, lowering the clipboard. “How are you feeling? This looks good,” he continued, waving the clipboard.

“I feel good,” he replied, having the grace to let Reid move the topic on. “Well, not good, but compared to how I felt when I got here? So much better. Dr McFadden says I'm going to be released later today.”

Reid did a double-take as that sunk in. “Already?” He'd known they'd want him out of there ASAP, but he hadn't expected it quite this soon.

“Yeah, and I can't wait,” Luke enthused. “Not a fan of hospitals.”

“I doubt anyone is.”

“True,” he conceded, “but I spent a lot of time in hospitals when I was young because of the kidney and...other stuff. The sooner I can get out, the better. Plus,” he continued uncertainly, nodding towards his medical chart, “you said it all looked good. Right?”

“It does,” Reid assured him, seeing Luke's face relax. “I can see why he's discharging you – don't tell him I said that. But,” he continued, “just because you're being discharged doesn't mean you can go back to the status quo. You may not need a hospital anymore but you will need one again if you don't rest. Your body's still recovering and adjusting to the rapid change in meds.”

“We know,” Holden interjected. “Dr McFadden made it extremely clear that Luke wasn't to push himself.”

“Maybe he's not a total quack,” Reid said generously. “But then he was the one to take you off MMF in the first place, so who knows? So,” he moved on, “how are you getting back to the apartment?”

They were planning on taking a cab, which was a complete waste of money when Reid had a perfectly functional car. Not very long, really, after Reid finished his shift, Luke was finally discharged and he and Holden had to wait on the curb as Reid brought the car around.

Thanking the nurse who'd been pushing his wheelchair, Luke carefully climbed into the passenger seat at Holden's insistence, who climbed in the back. The journey home technically went fine, though Reid could swear he felt every single imperfection in the road that they drove across. He really needed to get someone to look at his suspension.

By the time they finally made it up to their floor, Luke's body had clearly had enough though he kept trying to insist he was fine. Holden and Reid both ignored him, supporting him from either side as they guided him into the bedroom and down onto the side of his bed. Reid knelt down to tug Luke's shoes off and then they were forcing him onto his back, under the covers.

Luke tried to say something but literally fell asleep mid-sentence, which Reid had only seen happen to patients on the good stuff before.

“Thanks for everything, Reid,” Holden said quietly, as they stood watching Luke from the doorway.  
“We both really appreciate how much you've done for him.”

“It's fine,” Reid brushed it off, hating how awkward it made him feel. “I should get going, need to catch up on a few things.”

“Of course,” Holden said with understanding. “But...make sure you come and visit when you can, okay? Trust me,” he raised his eyebrows as he looked back at Luke's sleeping body, “you'll be doing me a favour.”

*

Reid did visit. Not until the next evening, of course, but the moment Luke's apartment door opened, he started moving.

“Out of the way,” he ordered, barging past Holden in a desperate bid to stop his stack of containers from hitting the ground. When he reached the kitchen he lowered them to the counter with a sigh of relief. Pulling open the fridge door, Reid stuck his head inside and tutted in disgust. Luke really hadn't been kidding about his lack of cooking skills – that was desperately obvious by the contents of his refrigerator. Reid immediately set to work, yanking out everything he deemed too unhealthy and dumping it straight in the trash.

“You know,” Holden began somewhere behind him, “Luke paid good money for all that food.”

“Paid good money for a heart attack, more like. This garbage is not what his body needs right now,” he told him, turning to start putting his containers of soup away.

Holden was already there, holding the first container out to him, clearly having inspected the contents. “And chicken soup is?”

“Chicken noodle soup,” Reid corrected as they formed a little conveyor belt into the fridge. “It's a staple for a reason. True, there's not much variety if it's all he has for a while, but there are plenty of other things I can whip up.” Closing the door with emphasis, he turned back towards Holden. “When you re-heat a portion, make sure it's heated all the way through and that it reaches 165 Fahrenheit for at least fifteen seconds.”

“Well he's awake but hasn't eaten yet, tonight.” Holden gestured to the rest of the kitchen. “Why don't you show me the best way to do that?”

Reid fixed him with a look. “Just for the record, I know you're patronising me. But you're Luke's dad so I'm saving my most withering retorts.”

“And I thank you for it,” Holden said with humour. “Now – the soup?”

A few minutes later Reid was carefully carrying a tray he'd found in the kitchen into Luke's room. Luke was sitting up in bed, typing away on a laptop, only stopping when he saw Reid. “I thought I heard someone else out there,” he smiled, closing the laptop and placing it next to him on the bed. “What's this?”

“Chicken noodle soup,” Reid declared, carefully handing the tray over.

“Smell delicious,” Luke announced. “I didn't think I had any.”

“You didn't,” he confessed. “I may have...made some.”

Luke paused, staring at him. “From scratch?” He glanced down at the bowl now resting on his lap. “You weren't kidding about your ability to cook.”

“It's not hard,” Reid insisted. “It's just taking the time to learn.”

“I guess,” he conceded, before picking up his spoon and giving the soup a test drive. He had to blow on it to cool it down, but there was no denying how impressed he was. “This is good. Really good.” He tried another spoon. “This might even be better than Grandma's chicken soup, though please don't ever say that in front of her.” Reid felt ridiculously proud over something as simple as chicken-freaking-soup. “Thank you, Reid,” Luke said sincerely, lowering his spoon. “Seriously, that was really nice of you.”

“It was no trouble,” he shrugged, looking away. “Like I said, it's not hard.” His eyes glanced over Luke's laptop so he focused on that instead, eager to change the topic. “Hope you haven't been on that thing all day.”

Following Reid's gaze, Luke shook his head between mouthfuls. “No, I've been resting a lot, like a good boy. I'd just had a few ideas so wanted to get them down before I forgot.”

“Ideas?”

“I'm a writer,” Luke explained and when Reid thought about it, that made a lot of sense. Luke had always kept his own hours and had never been dressed in a particularly professional manner despite living in this neighbourhood. “Have a seat,” Luke encouraged, nodding to the chair that'd been moved next to his bed. Holden had probably been using it throughout the day.

“Anything I would've heard of?” Reid asked as he sat down.

“Unlikely,” he made a face. “At this point I do have a solid fan base, but my work is definitely for a niche market.”

Reid was intrigued. “Why's that?”

“I write gay romance novels.”

“Okay.”

Luke eyed him speculatively. “I know it probably sounds a little...silly-”

“Why would I think that?” Reid interrupted, because he really didn't. “I'm sure you work hard at it. You must be good at it, too, if you make a living off of it. I wouldn't say that's silly at all.”

“I don't make all that much money from it, really,” he said, “but...I...” Huffing out a breath, Luke let his spoon clank down into his bowl dramatically and stared off to one side. “I hate how he can still get to me.”

Reid was clearly missing something. And also worried about the soup stains now developing on Luke's sheets.

“I have this ex,” Luke finally explained, focusing back on Reid, “who was always so supportive of my writing. He was really encouraging, was convinced I was going to write the next great American novel. And then I started writing the gay stuff.”

Ah. “Not his cup of tea?”

“Which was ironic given who we were,” Luke pointed out. “He thought no one would ever take my writing seriously, that it'd never appeal to the larger market. I wouldn't be seen as a 'serious' writer,” he finished, making speech marks with his fingers. “But I never cared about any of that stuff anyway. Writing for me has always been about making fun stories that show that being gay doesn't have to end in tragedy. The kind of stuff I would've loved to read when I was younger, you know? If I'd been brave enough,” he added with a chagrined smile.

That sounded plenty serious enough to Reid. “That's just as worthy as any 'great American novel' in my book. Probably more so. Most of those hacks wrote pretentious twaddle that was sickeningly indulgent anyway. I'm willing to bet your books have made of lot of people feel better about themselves. Also,” he continued, because Luke was staring at him like he wanted to thank him or something, “I'm hoping you kicked his ass to the curb.”

“I did,” Luke confirmed with a grin. “Though it took longer than it should have, in retrospect. We just kept having arguments about it – and then one day I won this award. Nothing particularly prestigious in the literary world but it was voted for by the public, you know? They got to choose, and they chose me. God, I was so happy,” he explained, a large smile developing on his face as he remembered, “they could have voted for anyone but most of them voted for me. I was ecstatic for a while – people really were appreciating what I was producing. So, I rushed to tell Noah.”

There was only one conclusion he could reach. “Who was an ass about it, I take it?”

Nodding, Luke confirmed his theory. “At first he was shocked I'd even won. And then he started going on about how it didn't mean anything, that it'd do nothing to help advance my career, and it was probably just a few confused teenagers spamming entries.”

Wow. “What an asshat.”

“Knowing Noah, I know he thought he was helping me,” Luke told him. “But that was it, I'd had enough. I broke up with him then and there.” Good. “But...” he paused. “It's still hard, sometimes. You hear something enough times and you start to believe it, even if you keep telling yourself not to. Sometimes he's still in here,” he admitted, tapping the side of his head with two fingers, “making me doubt myself.”

Reid hoped he never got to meet this Noah guy. “I view it as a type of abuse.”

Luke stared at him seriously. “You do?”

“Absolutely,” he confirmed. “You attack someone's self-confidence in that way, about the thing you know means the most to them, over a sustained period of time? That's not accidental,” he said bluntly, “they know exactly what they're doing.” When Luke kept staring at him, he finally gave in. “I may have my own asshat in my past.”

“Girlfriend?” Luke asked. “Boyfriend?”

“Neither. Though it would be boyfriend,” he confirmed. “My uncle. He raised me after my parents died, and he pulled that crap on me all the time.” And that was all he was willing to say on the subject.

Luke's gaze didn't waver. “I understand you so much more, now.”

“Not much to understand,” Reid said as he stood up because this had gone on too much, he'd gone too far in his bid just to make Luke feel better. “I use rudeness and sarcasm as a defense mechanism. You knew that already.”

“Sure,” he said, “but now I know why.”

Reid's skin just felt all itchy, he had to get out of there. “I gotta go.” He headed straight for the doorway and though he paused when he heard Luke's voice, he didn't turn back.

“Come back tomorrow?” Luke asked. “I promise, I won't mention your uncle.”

Hesitating for a moment, Reid nodded his silent agreement and bolted straight out of the apartment, not even bothering to say goodbye to Luke's dad.

After a restless night's sleep, Reid was even grumpier than usual when he headed into work. He was annoyed at himself and the situation. He'd never even mentioned Angus to anyone before, not since getting out. Frankly, Reid preferred to forget the guy ever existed, erase him from his past altogether.

And yet last night he hadn't hesitated to go blabbing about his crappy childhood, all in an attempt to let Luke know that he got it. He understood.

Matters didn't get any better when, while on break when he was quietly paying for a digital copy of one of Luke's books, he got an e-mail from someone he really didn't expect. He stared at the message in horror – for multiple reasons – didn't reply to it, and when he got back to the apartment building, didn't even bother going home and immediately knocked on Luke's door.

“Can you explain to me,” he began as he stalked into Luke's room, Holden following close behind, “why I got an e-mail today from your Grandmother?”

Luke, who was typing away on his laptop again – getting enough rest, Reid's ass – paused and didn't even have the decency to look guilty. “I told her about your amazing chicken noodle soup,” he said with absolutely no shame, “and she wanted to know the recipe, see how it differed from her own. I figured that rather than keep being the go-between, being able to contact each other directly would be more efficient for both of you.” Damn Luke and his logic, because that actually made sense. “But I should've checked with you first,” he conceded. “I'm sorry. I just thought you'd enjoy it,” Luke said, lips twitching, “being recipe buddies. With my Grandma.”

Reid's left eye spasmed. “Just don't go around handing out my e-mail address willy nilly. While I'm pretty sure your Grandma's not a Nigerian prince asking for money, you can never be too safe.” Luke chuckled quietly. “Also,” Reid added, “if this is going to be a regular thing, someone needs to teach her how to stop typing in capital letters.” It'd practically made his eyeballs bleed.

“Technology's not really Momma's thing,” Holden admitted from behind him. “But she wanted an easy way to keep in touch with Luke.”

“Trust me, you're lucky that's the worst you've had to deal with,” Luke chimed in. “Dad and I still remember,” they shared a look, “the porn virus incident.”

Reid honestly did not want to know.

It turned into a pretty nice evening in the end, despite how grumpy he'd been for most of the day – though he wasn't particularly impressed when he saw Holden helping himself to the chicken soup.

“That's for Luke. You know, the one who's actually recovering from a recent medical issue?”

“Well sure,” Holden said smartly, placing an empty bowl on the side, “but I need to look after myself too. I mean let's face it, Reid,” his eyes were practically twinkling, “I'm not exactly a spring chicken.”

Reid was pretty sure there was guffawing coming from Luke's room.

“You Snyder's are a menace.”

“Something my mother-in-law used to say every time she saw me,” Holden agreed.

“Sounds like a wise woman.”

“She's certainly something, all right. Lucinda's a...singular being. A lot like you, in that way.”

“Ah,” Reid remarked, “so she's also a misunderstood and underappreciated genius.”

“I'm sure she'd say she was. Now, go and sit with Luke,” he encouraged, “because I know otherwise you'll just keep trying to talk me out of eating this soup.”

He wasn't wrong. The laptop was away, at least, as Reid sat next to Luke, and he barely had to say anything at all before Luke launched into tales of his Grandma Lucinda. Reid found it all more fascinating than he should have – and discovered Luke was loaded, which explained how he could afford to live here.

Eventually, though, it hadn't even been an hour when it became clear that Luke was flagging. Clearly this much social interaction was too much for him just yet.

“I better head out,” Reid said as he stood. “I need to do a few things anyway, and you need to get some rest.”

Not arguing, Luke began rearranging his pillows and shuffling further down in his bed. “Thanks for coming,” he said around a yawn. “I've enjoyed this.” He watched Reid with tired but happy eyes, head pressed against a pillow. “Just talking with you. Can we keep doing this even when I don't feel like I'm gonna pass out half the time?”

“I suppose,” Reid said, like it was great torture to do so, even as he was in the process of pulling the curtains shut. “Though you'll probably do most of the talking.”

“There's a shocker,” Luke teased, which was quickly followed by another yawn. “Get the light?”

Reid did, flicking it off. He stood there for a little while, studying Luke in the light from the main room and didn't even think to move until Holden appeared next to him. Realising exactly what he was doing brought Reid up short. “Uh, I should get going.”

Holden insisted on saying thank you, but Reid still vamoosed as quickly as he could anyway.

After he'd showered, eaten – then realised he needed to make a grocery list – Reid had nothing else planned but to sit in bed, reading Luke's book.

Well. There was one other piece of business that did need to be dealt with, first.

_Hi, Luke's Grandma,_

_Thanks for your e-mail. No, I haven't had time to make those cookies for you yet, but when Luke's feeling better I'll get on it. Yours honestly were the most delicious cookies I've ever had, though, so I'm sure mine will pale in comparison._

_And I'll be happy to type my chicken noodle soup recipe up for you – my Mom always made it for me when I was sick as a kid and it always made me feel better._

_First, though, can you see the key on the left side of your keyboard marked 'CAPS LOCK'?_

_Press it._


	3. Chapter 3

Luke turned out to be a pretty good writer. It wasn't Reid's preference perhaps – he hadn't read fiction much, after childhood, and he'd never made the effort to read gay fiction specifically – but there was no doubt Luke knew what he was doing. He had a good eye for humour and sentiment in particular (also not Reid's preference) and knew how to draw his readers in to the immediately likeable characters.

Well, except for that one guy. He was just a dick. But that was obviously a deliberate choice on Luke's part.

Also, that one sex scene Reid had read up to was undeniably hot.

Reid was still part-way through the book when he headed off to work the next morning. He already had his day planned out, barring any emergencies – work, grocery shopping, brief visit with Luke, cooking up some more meals, then spend the evening hopefully finishing off the book.

Said plans took a diversion after work when Luke had the gall to open his own apartment door.

Shocked to see that it wasn't Holden, Reid glared at him. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Dad's in the shower,” Luke explained, “and I'm sick of being sick. I feel so much better today and sitting in bed all the time is driving me crazy.” He did seem to have a lot more energy. “Thank God you're here to distract me.”

Oh. Well. “I wasn't going to be visiting very long tonight, anyway. Was planning on cooking up some more meals-”

“Do it here,” Luke encouraged, smiling. “Please?” he added, making an appropriately desperate face. “It'll give me something to watch and I need to learn anyway, right? I could be your padawan.”

“Not the Star Wars references,” Reid complained, “anything but that.”

“Hey, you're the one who had the dog named Spock.”

“Which is Star _Trek_. An entirely different franchise.”

“I do know the difference, you know,” Luke said, “and they're both equally geeky so in the end we're really just as nerdy as each other. Which makes us perfect cooking buddies.” He finished the sentence with a cheesy grin. “Go and get your ingredients,” he instructed, “before I do something really nerdy and tell you to Live Long and Prosper.”

Luke really did know his science fiction. “Fine,” Reid allowed, “but you sit down the entire time and I do all the work.”

“Yes, _Dad_ ,” Luke joked, which was wrong for so many reasons.

Ten minutes later, Reid was set up in Luke's kitchen with everything he needed.

Well, nearly everything.

“How do you not have a grater?” he demanded, head stuck inside a cupboard in a desperate attempt to find anything useful.

“...because I never grate anything?” Luke offered. “If I want grated cheese I just buy some.”

Reid just shook his head, turning around to face him. Luke was sitting on the other side of the free-standing counter, perched on the chair they'd taken out of his bedroom. “Okay, well if you want to learn to cook your first priority should be making sure you have the essential equipment – but no time for that, now. I'll just have to chop the ginger up as small as I can.”

“Why not just buy crushed or pre-grated ginger?”

Luke was missing the point entirely. “We're doing this from scratch. That means everything. I'm not about to lie and say that pre-prepared products don't have their place – they're definitely a time saver, even I use them sometimes. And they're a godsend to anyone with medical problems or disabilities.”

“But?”

How to explain it? “To me it always...tastes better, when everything's done from scratch. Even something as simple as grating the ginger yourself.” He held up the ginger in question.

Thinking about it, Luke nodded. “I can see it feeling more satisfying, I guess. So,” he peered further over the counter, “what are we making?”

Reid opened his mouth to tell him, then remembered something. “Do you have any allergies?” He really should've checked before he ever made the soup.

“No.”

Good, that made everything a lot easier. “In that case, we're making spiced chicken, spinach and sweet potato stew.”

“Sounds yummy.”

“It will be,” Reid promised, then moved towards the sink. “Step one – hygiene.”

Luke was an attentive student, which made the process much less painful than it could've been. He was still Luke, though, so whenever Reid snarked at him for something, Luke just snarked right back. It made teaching him a lot more bearable – even enjoyable – than Reid had expected.

It also ended up taking much longer than it should have, though, so by the time the stew was finally cooked Reid was starving.

“Let's just all have some,” Luke insisted, as they could probably hear Reid's stomach rumbling in space. “You made more than enough for everyone, so there'll still be some leftovers and...you could come back tomorrow. And show me how to cook something else.” He looked up at Reid hopefully. “If you'd like.” He seemed unsure about asking, but didn't look away.

Reid couldn't even consider saying no. “I don't have any other plans.” Frankly, he never had any other plans. “Though if we'll be cooking something else I'll need to go grocery shopping again.”

“That reminds me,” Luke said, jumping up out of his chair and jogging straight for his bedroom.

Carefully lifting the stew out of the oven, Reid placed it on the worktop protector on the counter. “I'm really not sure you should be running around.”

“I jogged to my bedroom, Reid, it's not like I ran a marathon.” Luke's face showed exactly how he felt about this when he returned to the kitchen, holding a wallet.

Reid ended up feeling awkward, for some reason, and tried to hide it by closing the oven, turning it off, and placing the pot holders to one side.

But Luke was suddenly next to him, touching his forearm. Blinking, Reid had to force himself not to take a step back in surprise.

“Thank you,” Luke said sincerely, gaze flicking across Reid's face, “for worrying about me. But I know my own body, okay? I know what I'm capable of.”

Luke was annoyingly good at making these kinds of salient points. “Fair enough,” Reid conceded. “But I reserve the right to say I told you so at the first opportunity.”

“I'll give you that,” Luke agreed with a warm smile. The smile lingered, as did his hand, and either Reid was imagining things or Luke was swaying closer to-

“Smells delicious,” Holden called out, which made Reid back away like a cheetah driving a Bugatti. His back actually hit the fridge.

Holden continued on blithely, seemingly unaware of anything. “Do I actually have permission to try some of this, this time?” He'd been suspiciously absent the entire time since Reid's arrival – no one took that long in the shower. And Reid couldn't help but think that his appearance now was deliberate, too.

He was pretty sure Luke had been about to kiss him, an idea that Luke's reaction seemed to confirm.

“Sure, Dad,” he said through gritted teeth, turning to face his father who looked entirely too pleased. “I'll happily shove it down your throat myself.”

“Oh, I'll manage,” Holden said easily as he started setting the table. “Reid, you're joining us for dinner, right?”

Honestly, Reid kind of felt like he should leave. It was clear he hadn't misinterpreted anything, that Luke had been making a move on him, and he really didn't know how he felt about it. He liked Luke, a lot, but he'd been firmly telling himself they were nothing more than friends because he still didn't know how to deal with the idea. But...Luke was looking at him hopefully again and... “Yeah. Yes. Of course.”

Dinner was only awkward for the first couple of minutes. Things quickly went back to the way they usually were when Luke started insisting on giving him money for the groceries. Holden didn't get involved at all, seeming only to happy to sit back and watch as they bickered back and forth, though he appeared to be smiling into his glass every time he took a sip of water.

“Okay,” Luke tried again, clearly agitated, “then we compromise. We take turns paying for the groceries. I still think I should be paying as all of this is for my benefit, but as you are absolutely the most stubborn man I have ever met, I will let you have this much.”

Finally agreeing, Reid sat back in his chair. “Deal.”

“Finally,” he said, thunking his glass down on the table.

Sometime later, while Holden was clearing up the dishes – he'd insisted – Luke saw Reid to the door.

“I started reading one of your books,” Reid said conversationally.

“You did?” Luke asked with a surprised smile, pulling open the apartment door. “Which one?”

Reid took a moment to recall the name. “Pride & Performance Anxiety?”

“Okay,” he said in response. “And what do you think so far?”

“Not bad,” he answered honestly. “Even pretty good.” He let Luke gloat for a moment before continuing. “That Nick, though? What a dick.”

“Yeah,” Holden called out from the kitchen, “I wonder who he was based on.”

Luke didn't even bother looking at his dad, just tipped his head back and said loudly, “Thanks for the input, Dad.” They shared an amused look after, nonetheless, before Luke turned a little less-confident. “I hope that didn't bother you. Earlier. In the kitchen.”

Ah. “So I didn't misread-”

“No,” Luke agreed. “You didn't. Is that okay? I mean, I know I'm clearly at my hottest right now,” he joked, looking down at his oversized pajamas. “How can anyone resist this?”

And Reid couldn't. He was a little confused, a little unsure perhaps – but Rosie had been right. Especially now that he knew Luke better, he did want more. He just didn't know how to go about it. “It's okay,” he nodded, and Luke's relief was obvious. “It's just...an adjustment.”

“What is?”

Aware that Holden was probably eavesdropping, Reid lowered his voice. “Someone liking me. I mean, I've pretty much made it my life's mission to tick people off, so I never thought...never expected...” Honestly, Reid had long known that the chance of him finding anyone he could stand enough to be in an actual relationship with was so low it'd probably never happen.

The idea of anyone liking him back seemed equally as unlikely.

Tipping his head to one side, Luke studied him fondly. “Well, we'll get you used to it.” He leaned in, then, and Reid was completely taken aback when Luke pressed a gentle kiss to his left cheek.

When he drew back, Luke nodded with determination. “I'm going to woo the hell out of you, Reid Oliver.”

And then he shut the door.

*

He'd never admit it anyone, not even under pain of death, but Reid spent the next five minutes in a daze (okay, closer to an hour). No one had ever been that gentle with him before. He'd never had a serious relationship, and the 'relationships' he had been a part of had largely been about sex. They'd found each other mutually attractive, fucked for a while, then moved on. No feelings involved.

It was easy, never messy emotionally, and all that Reid had ever really expected out of life.

He read for a bit, managed to fall asleep at some point, and when work wasn't demanding 100% of his attention, distracted for the entire next day.

He couldn't wait to get to Luke's again.

Rosie was on her way out when Reid got back into the apartment building that night, lugging more groceries inside.

_How is he?_ she greeted, standing to one side.

_He likes me,_ Reid signed instead after putting the bags down, his astonishment clear.

She seemed pleased. _I knew he had to be special for you to like him in the first place. Is this for him?_ she asked, glancing down at the bags.

_I'm teaching him to cook._

_Maybe the two of you could have me over for a meal, sometime_ , she suggested. _Help keep an old lady company._

Reid didn't find that an entirely horrible idea. _If things keep going well_ , he signed, _I'll ask him._

Back in his apartment, he may have made a bit more of an effort on his appearance than usual, before heading over to Luke's.

Luke answered the door again but this time, he was dressed in his casual clothes.

“You got out of the pajamas,” Reid said as a hello, stepping inside as Luke held the door open further in invitation.

“Finally,” Luke agreed, closing the door. “Almost back at 100% performance.” As if to prove this point, he was suddenly pressing a brief kiss against Reid's shocked mouth and easily taking the bags of shopping from his now-lax fingers. Reid's face actually felt hot as he watched Luke walk over to the kitchen.

“Evening, Reid,” Holden greeted, where he sat at the dinner table ostensibly reading a book.

Reid didn't particularly care for his smug tone, so decided to mess with him a little. “You know that'd work a lot better if it wasn't the wrong way up.” It wasn't, of course, but it was fun watching Holden do a double-take to make sure anyway.

Luke's decision to 'woo' Reid didn't seem particularly different from their interactions before, kissing aside. He still argued with Reid that he was going to help, this time. He still argued with Reid that if he was really going to learn he needed to actually do it himself. He absolutely insisted that Reid show him, up close and personal, exactly how to chop the carrots _julienne_ -style.

Reid put a stop to that one because there were extremely sharp knives involved.

Luke actually pouted, a little, but once dinner was in the oven and the knives safely cleared away, Reid figured _what the hell_ and pushed Luke up against the fridge, kissing him deeply.

Now that they were doing this, after all, there was no reason he couldn't do some wooing of his own.

Luke's eyes were pleased and heavy-lidded, afterwards, the two of them still pressed up against each other. “That was quite some kiss.”

“That doesn't seem particularly hygienic,” Holden observed from the table, who Reid had honestly completely forgotten was there.

Resting his forehead against Luke's, for a moment, he eventually moved away to start clearing up. “You know, your dad always being underfoot is really putting a crimp in my seduction technique.”

“You have a seduction technique?” Luke asked dubiously. “What's the plan? Pretend you're a dick but then do really nice things for everyone?”

“It worked, didn't it?”

Grinning, Luke bumped their hips together as he reached for the dirty dishes. “Dad's leaving soon anyway, now that I'm feeling better. Might even be tomorrow.”

“Already?” Reid asked, then realised how hopeful that sounded. Holden wasn't all that bad, as far as dads-whose-sons-you-wanted-to-bang went. Could've been a hell of a lot worse.

“You know I'm still here, right?” Holden pointed out.

Then again...

The evening turned out to be much the same as the one before, though Luke made a point of touching Reid at every opportunity. It was nothing inappropriate – a hand on his shoulder as he reached up for something in the kitchen, a touch on Reid's wrist when he asked him to pass the salt, a brush against his side when he moved past him.

Reid enjoyed it so much he found himself starting to do the same. Luke enjoyed it just as much, if the satisfied smile he kept wearing was any indication.

When it was time for Reid to leave they both stood in the open doorway, then looked over at Holden watching-but-not-watching from where he was doing the dishes, and silently agreed to take it outside.

“Thanks for coming,” Luke said after he pulled the door shut behind him, facing Reid in the corridor. “And for the cooking lessons. I think I'm actually getting better already.”

“I wouldn't go that far,” Reid replied, just to see that reaction on Luke's face. “But there may be...progress.”

“That's impressive, coming from you,” Luke smiled knowingly. “I had a good time.”

Despite the unavoidable awkwardness of Holden being there, Reid had as well. “I did, too.”

They stared at each other for a while. Nodded at each other for a while. And then Luke was suddenly grabbing him by the upper arms, shoving him up against the wall, and kissing the hell out of him.

Reid wasn't really surprised but it did take his brain a few seconds to catch up. Once it did, however, he kissed Luke back just as passionately.

“Not too much, right?” Luke asked after the kiss, looking at Reid seriously. “You said you had to adjust-”

“I'm a fast learner,” Reid interrupted, turning them around and pushing Luke against the wall before diving back in, “trust me, right now I am fully adjusted.”

When that kiss ended, Luke broke out into a huge grin. “I feel like a teenager all over again,” he said happily, as Reid decided to give his neck some much-needed attention, “making out with a guy on the front step, knowing my dad's waiting inside. I'm half expecting the hallway lights to start flicking on and off.”

“Never got to do that,” Reid admitted, regretfully dragging his head back up.

“Me either, to be honest,” Luke confessed, bringing a hand up to play with Reid's hair as he met his gaze. “Guess we're both making up for lost time.” They looked at each other for a while, and the kiss after that may have been less passionate but was definitely more serious.

They managed to pull themselves apart, eventually, with the promise of seeing each other the next day.

Reid had a smile on his face for the rest of the night and, as he got ready for bed, knew that his earlier words had been right. Luke had taken him by surprise. If he'd just offered Reid a quick hook-up or a Friends With Benefits arrangement, Reid would've known exactly how to react. This had all been a little out of Reid's wheelhouse.

Now that it'd had time to sink in, though? Now that he'd 'adjusted'?

Reid was all in.

*

Holden didn't leave the next day, but he did the morning after that. As luck would have it, it was Reid's day off (he only realised, later, that that might've been on purpose) so he got to be there when Luke said goodbye to his dad.

“I can't thank you enough, Dad,” Luke said, voice full of emotion as he hugged his father. “Putting everything on hold and flying out here.”

“You're my kid, kid,” Holden said as he pulled back, placing a hand on top of Luke's head, briefly. “Don't be ridiculous. But if you really want to thank me...”

Luke, apparently, knew where this was going and did not look impressed. “Don't say it.”

Holden said it anyway. “Call your mother.”

Glaring, Luke crossed his arms. What a little drama queen. “I'll call her when she starts being reasonable.”

“Well then that'll never happen, will it?” Holden joked, who apparently was not unaware of whatever issues Luke had with his mother. “Luke,” he tried again. “You were in hospital. For days. I'm sure it was only Lucinda holding her back that kept her in Oakdale in the first place.” He fixed Luke with a look. “Call your mother.”

Eventually sighing, Luke uncrossed his arms and gave in. Slightly. “I'll think about it.”

“Better than nothing,” Holden remarked, before turning to Reid. “Reid,” he held out a hand. “It's been...interesting.” Luke elbowed Holden in the side with a hissed, _Dad_.

“That's what they all say,” Reid shot back, but shook the hand anyway.

“Thank you, for everything you've done – everything you're doing – for Luke,” he then said sincerely. “I can't tell you how much it means to me.” Apparently happy with that, Luke nodded his satisfaction.

“It's no trouble,” Reid replied.

“So you keep saying,” Holden pointed out, “but just accept the thanks.”

“Umm.” Okay. “Thanks.”

Seemingly satisfied, Holden hoisted his travel bag onto his shoulder. “Well, I better head off if I want to get my flight on time. My cab should be turning up soon.”

“You sure you don't want a lift?”

“No,” he insisted. “No, you've done enough. Enjoy your day off,” Holden encouraged, and Reid was pretty sure that was a deliberate look towards Luke.

Father and son hugged one more time, and then Holden was disappearing down the hallway towards the elevator.

Luke watched for a while, then closed the door looking a little lost.

“It was just nice, you know,” he explained, catching Reid looking at him, “having a little piece of home here. I'm glad I got out of Oakdale, don't get me wrong,” he wrapped his arms around himself, “but the city can be a little...lonely.”

“Not so lonely,” Reid offered, moving closer and placing a hand on his side, reminding him that he definitely wasn't alone.

“No,” Luke agreed, expression transforming into a smile, “not so lonely.”

Good. Reid, however, had facts that he just had to get to the bottom of. “So what's the deal with your mom?”

“Ugh,” Luke spat out like Reid had betrayed him, pulling away completely and throwing himself down onto the sofa. “I love her, but we've always had an up and down relationship. She wasn't...great...when I came out. Tried to send me to a straight camp.” Holy toledo. “It all worked out and we got over it in the end,” Luke assured him, but how the hell did you get over something like that? “But there were a few more things and then...” he threw his arms out to the side. “I broke up with Noah.”

No freaking way. “She took his side?”

“Not exactly,” Luke made a face. “It wasn't that cut and dried, but she did think I was being...unreasonable. Over-dramatic.”

“You?” Reid asked with fake shock. “Never.”

Taking the opportunity to glare at him, Luke nonetheless continued. “And she just wouldn't let it go, you know? She kept sticking her nose into my relationship and just kept going on about it, over and over.”

“I can see how that would-”

“Drive you crazy?” Luke asked rhetorically. “Because it definitely did. Anyway,” he slumped back against the sofa, “she brought it up every time we saw each other, wouldn't listen to my wishes, so...”

“You just stopped talking to her.”

“Yeah.”

Reid couldn't even say he'd made the wrong call, but he did have a unique perspective. “I can see it from both sides,” he announced, finally sitting next to Luke.

Sitting forward, Luke frowned. “Why's that?”

“Well on one hand my folks are dead,” Reid said easily, something he'd long come to terms with, “and I'd give anything to have the chance to speak to them one more time, even if it was an argument. But on the other hand,” he conceded, “not all parents are worth your time. Just because they're your parents it doesn't automatically make them good people or worthy of loving. Assholes come in all shapes and sizes.”

“True,” Luke nodded, gaze going distant, obviously having a lot to think about.

Taking that as his cue, Reid stood up. “Anyway, I should-”

Snapping back to reality, Luke jumped up. “Shouldn't go anywhere,” he corrected on Reid's behalf. “Unless you've got something you need to do. It's just I kind of had plans.”

Reid had thought Luke wanted some time to think things over about his mom, but obviously not. “Plans?” 

“Plans,” Luke confirmed, stepping closing, gaze falling to Reid's mouth. “Involving. You. Me. The sofa.”

“Oh, _those_ kinds of-mmph.”

They made out on the sofa for a long, long time. Reid had never really kissed anyone for that long before, not as anything other than a prelude to sex. He wasn't in any particular rush, though, and Luke didn't seem to be either. It was fun, mostly, in a way that kissing had never really been before, because even on the sofa Luke kept testing him, tickling his sides, teasing him.

He never let Reid take himself too seriously.

Sadly, they were in the middle of a kiss-slash-tickle session, when Reid's beeper went off.

“Nooooo,” Luke complained plaintively.

Sighing, Reid moved off the sofa immediately, because he knew if he didn't he'd never leave. “Comes with the territory,” he said truthfully, patting his pockets to double-check he still had his keys.

“Okay, I can learn to deal with that,” Luke admitted, and Reid made the mistake of turning to look at him as he opened the door. Luke was still stretched out on the sofa, and though he was dressed, he looked utterly debauched. Especially when he spoke with a sultry grin. “But I'd just like to say that the first time we have sex, you are definitely turning that thing off.”

Reid missed the door completely and walked into a wall.

*

Things didn't really change, now that Holden was gone. They still spent most evenings together, and most evenings now ended with a heavy-duty make-out session.

Reid was not complaining.

The only real difference was that most of their time together was spent at Reid's place, instead, largely because he knew he had all the equipment necessary to cook the way he really wanted to.

But then things started changing. Luke got involved with his writing more and more and one night, when he hadn't come over as promised, Reid went knocking on his door.

Eyes widening in recognition, Luke was immediately horrified that he'd lost track of time. “Oh my God, Reid, I am so sorry. Is that the time already?” He glanced at his wrist before remembering he didn't wear a watch. “I've been in such a good writing place lately I completely lose track of time.”

“Sometimes work comes first,” Reid said bluntly, “if anyone understands that, it's me. There's some stuff I should catch up on anyway,” like, a month's worth of chores, “but feel free to come over if you finish up.”

“You're the best,” Luke told him, giving him a quick kiss before heading back to work.

Back in his apartment, Reid kept busy giving everything a proper clean. Sometime later he'd just turned the vaccum off when he heard knocking at the door. Realising that that could've been going on for who knew how long, he jogged over.

It was Luke, waiting on the other side of the door looking guilty. “I'm sorry.”

Reid rolled his eyes, stepping back to let him in. “Stop apologising. You take your job seriously – that's something to be admired.”

“Yeah, but I also take you seriously,” he replied, moving over towards the sofa. “Although,” he admitted, taking a seat, “this is all your fault.”

“This should be good,” Reid said expectantly, sitting next to him.

“I've never been this inspired before,” Luke blurted out. “Normally I have to go for a walk to really get the creative juices flowing. Something about the outside has always resonated with me.”

That made sense when he thought about it. “That's why you like the park so much.”

Luke nodded. “I go for a walk, let things develop in my head, then make of note of everything when I get back.”

“You could make notes or dictate you go,” Reid pointed out, “there are apps on your phone-”

“I know,” Luke interrupted kindly, “but it's not the same. My routine works for me. But,” he continued, “I haven't needed it lately.”

Right, he'd said that. “And you think that's something to do with me?” Reid was happy to take credit, but he didn't see how it was anything to do with him.

“I do,” he said certainly. “Getting to know you has been inspiring, I guess. You're a victim of your own success,” he teased.

“Wow,” Reid commented, “I really do excel at everything. I've turned into someone's muse without even trying.” He wasn't even really joking, if he was honest. The idea of inspiring Luke in any way was definitely good for his ego.

Shaking his head at him, Luke eventually sat there just looking. “I haven't been doing a very good job of wooing you, have I?”

Reid really didn't need all the bells and whistles – he was a pretty simple guy when it came to this stuff. “Just keep turning up,” he said honestly, “that'll pretty much do it.” Luke started making a fond-slash-emotional face, so he kept talking. “And there's nothing saying that we have to be in any rush, anyway. I mean, I feel like we're pretty much on the same page and we live right next door to each other. I'm literally not going anywhere.”

“True,” Luke gave him the point, “but I also believe that if something's important, you have to make the time for it because sometimes life can just get in the way. And I think this is important,” he added meaningfully, placing a hand on Reid's thigh.

He couldn't disagree. “It's important to me too,” he said truthfully, covering Luke's hand with his own.

“Good,” Luke grinned, turning his palm up so their fingers could tangle together, “because I'm taking you out to dinner.”

“Now?” Reid was always a fan of food.

“Nah, I need a few days to make some arrangements,” he promised. “Say...Thursday? 7 o'clock?”

“Assuming there's no emergencies at work, I have no plans,” he shrugged, “as always.”

“Then Thursday it is,” Luke nodded firmly. “Now,” he continued, turning his hand back over and sliding it tantalisingly close to Reid's groin. “I believe I owe you some kisses.”

Reid was already sliding a free hand behind Luke's neck. “Fortunately for you, I'm the kind of guy who always collects on debts owed.”

They were both smiling when their lips finally met.

*

Reid's week passed a little slower, perhaps, knowing Luke was taking him out. Thursday arrived eventually nonetheless, and though there had been an emergency surgery in the afternoon, Reid managed to get home just in time to grab a quick shower and get changed. Luke had said to dress casually which was, frankly, a relief. He was dressed pretty casually himself when he arrived to pick Reid up – though the clothes were definitely more form-fitting than usual and Reid spent a disproportionate amount of time getting distracted by the breadth of Luke's shoulders.

“I did consider doing the whole black tie thing,” Luke told him as they made the trip down in the elevator, “but that didn't really seem like your kind of thing.”

“Definitely the right call,” Reid agreed. “I couldn't care less about all that pretentious, stuffed-shirt stuff.”

When the doors pinged open they both moved to leave, only to see Rosie waiting outside.

Looking between them, she smiled widely.

Reid immediately began talking to her in sign language, translating for Luke as he did so. Luke watched in fascination as Reid confirmed to Rosie that yes, they were dating and yes, they were heading out for dinner now. Rosie communicated with Luke directly a couple of times herself – she was pretty good at interacting with hearing people who couldn't sign, having had to do so for most of her life.

When Reid made their excuses, Luke gave her an overly-enunciated, “It was nice to meet you,” at which point Reid showed him how to sign _nice_ and _meet_ after which Luke performed his own clumsy but heartfelt rendition.

Seeming to appreciate the effort, Rosie signed _Thank you_ and went on her way.

“Is there anything you can't do?” Luke asked with awe, grabbing at Reid's arm.

“Haven't managed to create a world in seven days yet.”

“Ha ha,” he shot back, as they made their way out of the building. “But forget about cooking for a while, okay? I definitely need to learn sign language.”

“You know it's all online these days, right? You could teach yourself.”

“Well, sure,” he leered at Reid, “but where's the fun in that?”

When they approached Luke's car, instead of getting into the driver's seat, Luke unlocked the doors and pulled open the passenger-side door with a great flourish.

Standing stone still, Reid looked at him doubtfully. “You know I'm not a woman, right?”

“Believe me,” Luke said, looking Reid over from head to toe, “I noticed. Holding the door open for someone is simply good manners. Grandma Emma would have my hide if I didn't show good manners at all times.”

“This is great news,” Reid announced, “now that I can e-mail her whenever you're making fun of me.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn't dare.”

“It pays to be buds with the old ladies, I guess.”

“Yeah, well I'll just tell her you called her 'old' and see how far that gets you,” Luke told him in no-uncertain terms. “You getting in?” he asked, still holding the door open.

Luke was having to avoid traffic to do so, so Reid conceded. “...okay. But if you pull the chair out for me at dinner, I'm leaving.”

“Deal.”

As it turned out, there were no chairs for Luke to pull out anyway. His restaurant of choice was an old-style American diner, which consisted entirely of booths and stools attached to the floor.

“Good choice,” Reid said as they walked in.

Basking in the approval, Luke turned to the waitress as she was walking up to them. “Reservation for Snyder?”

Reid fought back a smile as she grabbed a couple of menus and showed them to their booth. Once she'd told them the specials and had taken their drink orders, Reid finally said what was on his mind. “You made a reservation. At a diner.”

“Hey, this place is popular,” Luke argued, unashamed. “Had to make sure we'd get a booth.”

It was pretty packed in there, Reid could admit that much. They'd been going through the menu debating options for a few minutes when the waitress returned with their drinks.

“Here you go, Luke,” she said cheerily, placing his soda next to him.

“Thanks, Marcie,” he replied pleasantly. “We need a few more minutes, if that's okay.”

Reid could only stare in wonder as Marcie walked away. “How do you always know everyone's name?” He'd known who the delivery guys were, too, when he'd first moved in.

“I ask them?” he frowned, like it was obvious. “Also, she's wearing a name badge.”

Oh. Right. That was a good point. But... “She knew your name, too.”

Caught, Luke sipped at his soda around a grin. “Well I had to do my research, didn't I? I may have eaten here before. Had to make sure their food was up to your exacting standards. I mean, you're practically a professional chef.”

“True,” Reid conceded, in a tone of voice that showed he was playing along. “It's so hard to find diner's these days that do burgers and fries.”

That was the meal they both went for, in the end, Reid deciding to indulge. He did eat pretty healthily most of the time, and this was a date. If ever there was a time to treat himself, this was it.

“So how was high school for you?” Luke asked sometime later, dipping a fry in some ketchup.

“Average?” Reid shrugged. “It was nothing special but it wasn't terrible, either.” His high school experience had been nothing like the ones that appeared on TV or the movies, but then they were never supposed to be based in reality anyway.

“Were you out?”

“No,” he shook his head, fiddling with the straw in his drink. He felt a little more comfortable, now, talking about it. “I was living with my uncle by then and...let's just say it would've gone down like a lead balloon.”

Luke watched him with understanding eyes. “Homophobic?”

“And then some,” Reid confirmed. “Part of me wanted to be out just to throw it in his face.” He'd envisioned it so many times as a teenager, imagining just how much that vein on Angus' temple would throb. “But I was just a kid. In the end I decided retreat was the better part of valour.”

“You did what you needed to do to stay safe,” Luke said encouragingly.

He wasn't wrong. “I hated it, though,” Reid confessed. “And when I finally got out, I decided I'd never hide who I was – for anyone. I may not go around wearing rainbows – too many clashing colours for my tastes – but I refuse to be ashamed. So, yeah,” he continued, “high school itself was fine. I was a science nerd, didn't really have any friends, but I wasn't really bullied, either.”

Luke, luckily, played it all for humour. “You, a science nerd?” He actually braced a hand against his chest.

“Shocking, I know,” Reid grinned. “What about you? How was your high school experience?”

“Pretty good, actually,” he shrugged. “I was a jock, played basketball.”

“That explains so much.”

He stuck his tongue out. “I was scared to come out for such a long time, but when I finally did all my friends were really cool about it.” Luke stared at his food, turning introspective. “Dad was so good about it, you know?” Holden seemed like the type who would be. “I think he knew, for a long time, before I could say it. And it wasn't that I was ashamed, I was just terrified everyone would hate me. That they wouldn't love me anymore.”

He understood. “You were lucky.”

“I was,” Luke agreed. “Of course,” he shifted and sighed, “then Damian got into Mom's head, which is a whole other ball-game that I'm not getting into right now.”

Reid had definitely never heard that name before. “Damian?”

“My biological father,” he explained, eating another fry, then seemed to realise his food was going cold and stuffed a few more into his mouth.

That made Reid realise he was in the same boat, so he quickly picked up his burger. “You're still in contact?”

“On and off,” Luke said around a mouthful. “We get on well, now, but he did...a lot of bad stuff. Like, illegal stuff. Our relationship has improved a lot, but I don't think he's really a very good person?” He sounded unsure, as if he didn't know the answer himself.

“And yet he produced you,” Reid argued after swallowing his latest bite of burger, “so he can't be all bad.”

Tipping his head to one side, Luke looked at him fondly. “That would be so much sweeter if you didn't have burger relish on the corner of your mouth.”

Chuckling quietly, Reid grabbed a napkin to fix the problem as Luke started munching on his own burger.

“Man,” Luke said when his mouth was empty, “high school. Feels like so long ago now. Even longer for you,” he added, not actually winking but he might as well have.

“Ah, an age joke,” Reid remarked. “How witty.”

Luke just grinned. “It really doesn't bother you? The age difference.”

“That question's probably more appropriate for you,” he offered. “I'm the one who's robbing the cradle.”

Nearly choking on his burger, Luke put it down and took a few moments. “You are most certainly not doing that.”

Amused, Reid finally answered the question. “As long as both parties are consenting adults it's nobody's business but theirs. If you don't care, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned it's a non-issue.”

“So age doesn't matter to you.”

“Not at all. Although...” Hmm, yeah. “I am still expecting you to produce an enormous cake on my fortieth.” Birthday cake was definitely the best thing to come out of getting older every year.

“I can do that,” Luke agreed happily. “When is it?”

“The 29th.”

Luke froze, eyes widening. “Of this month?”

“Yeah.”

“But that's barely too weeks away,” he complained, actually picking up a napkin just to throw it back down on the table. “Why didn't you say something?”

“I am saying something,” Reid pointed out quite rationally, “right now.”

“That's barely enough time to plan anything,” Luke continued, digging into his jeans to pull out his phone, which he immediately started doing something on.

Reid wasn't standing for that, reaching across the table to cover Luke's phone – and his hands. “I don't want a big fuss,” he said honestly, “that's not me. I just wanna hang out with you.” It was honestly the thing that'd make him the happiest, these days.

Studying him for a while, Luke must've eventually decided not to argue with him, as he locked the screen on his phone and put it away. “And a huge cake. Can I at least make it myself?”

“And a huge cake,” Reid confirmed. That was the only part of birthdays he ever really enjoyed anyway. “But store bought's fine,” he insisted, because baking was a whole different type of skill set. “Don't think you're ready for home made just yet.”

“Fine,” Luke sighed, “but you watch – this time next year, I'll be making you a cake for your 41st.”

Reid was honestly looking forward to it – the cake, and that Luke thought they'd still be together in a year.

He was finally remembering to actually finish his meal when he felt Luke's sock-clad foot rubbing against his shin. It took Reid a few moments to actually accept what was happening and that, yes, judging by the devious expression on Luke's face, he definitely wasn't imagining things. “Are you actually playing footsie with me?”

“Maaaaaaaaaaybe,” Luke replied with an evil grin, as his foot made it all the way up to Reid's knee.

Not that he wasn't enjoying the attention. “This a vital part of your wooing strategy?”

“Uh huh,” he kept smiling, “this is stage five-okay, I give in,” Luke finally crumbled, extracting his foot from Reid's leg. “The table's too low, or my legs are too long or-” he sighed. “This stuff sounds a lot easier than it actually is.”

“Well, how about we don't get arrested for public indecency,” Reid suggested, “and we can play footsie another time?”

Luke was only too happy to agree.

It had been a very good evening, in Reid's opinion, and as they approached his apartment – Luke had insisted on walking him to his door (step seven, apparently), despite the fact they lived literally ten feet apart – it only felt natural to invite Luke inside.

“Dr Oliver,” he declared in a fake-offended tone, “I am not that type of boy.”

“You are absolutely that type of boy,” Reid disagreed, tugging him in for a kiss.

Making a happy noise when he stepped back, Luke smiled a little awkwardly. “I just want it to be special, you know?”

This had suddenly gotten a lot more serious than Reid had been expecting. “For the record, I'm not trying to pressure you – we could just hang out the way we usually do. But, also for the record? It'll be special however it happens. Because it's with you.”

Luke made a _face_ and then he made a horny face, which was quite some transformation. “Okay, you need to get that door open right now, because the things I want to do to you will definitely get us arrested for public indecency.”

Reid fumbled with the key three times before he finally got it into the lock. Sentiment, apparently, was Luke's viagra.

Luke took total control once they were safely inside, pushing Reid back until he was sitting on the sofa, where he climbed on top of him.

They kissed hungrily, deeply, this kiss quickly becoming far more passionate than the make-out sessions they played around with before. Reid's hands roamed everywhere, though he found he particularly liked the feel of Luke's strong thighs clamped around his sides.

“God,” Luke hissed out after breaking the kiss, staring into Reid's eyes as he stroked the side of his face, “the things you make me want to do.”

“Feel absolutely free to do absolutely any of them,” Reid encouraged. “Or none of them,” he had to add, however. “I meant what I said earlier.”

“So did I,” Luke replied, sitting further back on Reid's lap. “I want to do this right, you know? It matters to me,” he said meaningfully, “that we get this right. That we'll work.”

Things had turned deep again, all of a sudden. “That's...serious.” Based on Luke's remarks about the cake and what he was saying now, the only conclusion Reid could draw was that Luke wanted this to be a long-term deal. Maybe even a forever deal.

“It's how I feel,” Luke said without shame, moving off of Reid's lap to sit next to him, which was honestly the worst thing that'd happened all night. “Even when I was first getting to know you, there was...something. I knew you'd be important in my life.”

“ _That's_ why you never left me alone.”

“Plus you were a dick and I just loved riling you up,” Luke admitted.

Now that Reid believed. “Rosie said something about that, once. About how, sometimes, you could feel a connection to someone you barely know. I always assumed she was talking about meeting her husband and, well, look how that turned out.”

“Sometimes it is tragically brief,” Luke agreed, “maybe that's part of what makes it so special.”

“Oh, I am not buying into that crap,” Reid argued. “Only being with someone for a short time doesn't make it 'special', it's how you interact with each other that does.” And...yeah. He and Luke were absolutely on the same page about this, too. “And I plan on interacting with you for a long time, so you better take care of that kidney, you hear me?”

A pleased grin spread across Luke's mouth as he dipped his head. “Luckily I have a doctor to take care of me,” he said happily, before throwing an arm around Reid and pulling him close.

This was a hug, apparently, and Reid bore it as well as he could manage. Actually kind of liked it, after a while, although only because it was Luke.

“So, Dr Oliver,” Luke began when he finally pulled away, “how would you rate our first official date?”

Thinking about the fun he'd had, and the serious turn their conversation had taken afterwards, Reid eventually knew just the right thing to say. “Well, I've always been an overachiever,” he said, “and we've already declared our intention for this to be a long term relationship, so I'd say – four and half stars.”

“Just four and a half?” Luke demanded, wearing the same stupid grin Reid was probably sporting.

“Well I have to give you _some_ room for improvement,” he replied, which made Luke tackle him back onto the sofa.

Which had honestly been the plan all along.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Working on a new fic! Think it's got a ways to go, though, so not sure when I'll start posting it yet.

The week and a half to Reid's 40th birthday passed very pleasantly indeed. They went on a couple more dates, both of which had ended similarly to their first – with much more visceral, passionate making out. They came tantalisingly close to having sex at the end of their third date but Luke backed off, joking that he didn't want to be a cliché.

Reid knew there was more to it, but didn't press the issue. Luke would tell him when he was ready.

They did start building what was probably a healthier work-life balance (Reid hated that term). Reid insisted that Luke keep writing and Luke insisted that it was important they spend time together, so they developed an unofficial rota, meeting up every other evening instead of every evening. Luke tried to argue against it, pointing out that he wrote all day when Reid was at work anyway. Reid knew better, however, because Luke had gotten distracted too many times when they were supposed to be hanging out, then gone searching for anything he could write on at Reid's place to jot down dialogue or ideas that were apparently just bursting out of his head.

On the plus side, Reid finally got to finish Luke's book (he'd been a little distracted) and immediately bought another one. Not just to be a supportive boyfriend – or, whatever they were – but because by the time he reached the end of it, he found he'd genuinely enjoyed it.

He finally got around to making those cookies for Emma, too, something he'd honestly forgotten about until she'd sent him another e-mail. Luke – as promised – showed him the best way to package them effectively for transport through the US postal system and then Reid let Emma know they were on their way.

_What's up, Mrs Snyder?_

_First of all, you never need to thank me for helping Luke. It's just one of those things that's going to happen, like the sun rising in the morning or teenagers making pouty lips when taking selfies. It's nothing remarkable._

_Secondly, I can't believe that my chicken noodle soup went down so well that it's now going to be your go-to chicken soup recipe. Luke told me yours was the stuff of legend. I don't know what to say, other than – ha! Suck it, Grandma Emma!_

_Seriously, though. It's nice to know that other people are appreciating Mom's recipe._

_Lastly, my version of your cookies are now winging their way to you via the USPS. Let's hope they make it to you unscathed. Like I said before, I really don't see how they could possibly top yours, but Luke and I did a thorough taste test anyway (I may have had to make a second batch)._

_Hey, do me a favour and keep telling your son he's no spring chicken?_

_Thanks._

_Reid_

Things were all going quite swimmingly, really. Luke was much better at picking up sign language than he was at cooking and Reid was just about the happiest he could ever remember being.

And then, the night before his birthday, there was a frantic knocking at Reid's door. He wasn't particularly surprised to find that it was Luke – no one else in the building ever knocked on his door, if they could help it. He was surprised to see that he looked so distressed. Reid didn't even get a chance to ask what was wrong before Luke brushed past him into the apartment.

“I'm so sorry, I didn't even realise I was doing it,” he started emotionally, turning to face him and gesturing with the laptop Reid hadn't even noticed he was holding until now.

Reid had literally no idea what was going on, and said so. “Doing what?”

“My books have always been semi-autobiographical,” Luke explained, which so far explained nothing. “There's usually some part of my own life in there somewhere.”

Shutting the door, Reid approached him the way he'd approach a frightened horse. “Like Nick?”

“Like Nick,” he confirmed.

“Okay,” because Reid still didn't get it, “what does this have to do with-?”

“I was reading over what I've been writing lately,” Luke said, “and I realised...it's you. This new character I've created is you.”

Now that he'd heard the 'horrible truth' – that really wasn't horrible at all – Reid felt all kinds of relieved. “Christ, Luke, I thought it was something serious.”

“It is!” he insisted. “I've infringed on your privacy, your personal issues,” Luke kept ranting. “I absolutely understand if you want me to trash the book or even if this changes things for us-”

“Whoa there, cowboy, that's just crazy talk.” That sure as hell wasn't happening, not if Reid had anything to do with it. “Look, stop being ridiculous and just let me read the damn thing.” He held a hand out for the laptop.

Luke hesitated only briefly before handing it over. “Be honest with me, okay? If it's too personal or too much like you I'll take it out. I can change it, start again from scratch-”

“And delete all your hard work?” Reid asked disdainfully as he placed the laptop on the dinner table and opened it up. “Don't be an idiot.”

Luke quickly typed in his password when the prompt appeared, and then Reid pulled out a chair to start reading. Luke told him the best place to start from – there was some stuff at the beginning that he could skip, apparently – and then Reid started looking over Luke's new book with a critical eye.

It wasn't long before he could see what Luke was talking about.

The name was different, and Luke's character was a stockbroker instead of a doctor, but he could absolutely see how he'd been the inspiration. Richard worked long hours, kept to himself and didn't really have any friends – which was largely his own doing. Though it wasn't stated explicitly, it was obvious through Luke's writing that Richard was incredibly lonely and barely had any human interaction outside of work. Though not an orphan he'd had a tough childhood, deflecting everything with humour and scathing retorts.

And then one day he met this guy, new to the area, who'd changed everything.

Reid had barely been reading for an hour, Luke hovering nearby – thankfully silently – when he decided he'd read more than enough and closed the laptop firmly. He didn't need to read the whole thing right now. Not only wasn't it practical, but he already knew everything he needed to know.

“You read it?” Luke asked anxiously, finally taking the seat next to him.

“I read enough.”

“Well?” he demanded. “Say something.”

Thinking over everything he'd just read, Reid lounged back in his seat and did just that. “Wow,” he told Luke, “you are crazy about me.”

Luke looked like his brain had just re-booted. “I...what?”

“You're _nuts_ about me,” Reid repeated. “I mean I kind of knew that already, but having it in written form is good for the old ego.”

Luke still couldn't comprehend, apparently, sitting forward in his chair, then back again, then leaning forward with his hands on the table. “I...so...you don't think it's you?”

“Oh, it's absolutely me,” Reid disagreed, “one hundred per cent. I could take you to court and probably win – if that was the kind of thing I had any interest in doing whatsoever.”

“So you don't mind?”

“Hell, no!” he argued. “Why would I? My background's different enough, you made me interesting, _likeable_ – definite proof of your writing skills – and so amazingly attractive that Leo was drawn to me right away. That said,” because this really needed pointing out, “you do need to get much more creative with your character names.”

Laughing briefly, though clearly relieved, Luke rubbed his hands over his face. “I can't believe you're so chilled out about this. I honestly thought you were gonna be furious.”

“I'm downright elated,” Reid grinned, which was the Gods-honest truth, and something that'd happened very rarely in this life. Luke liked him _so much_ – the way he'd written about 'Richard' made it undeniable. “My head probably couldn't fit through that doorway right now.”

Smiling, reassured, Luke shifted closer to pull Reid into a half-hug. “I'm so glad I met you,” he said into Reid's neck.

“The feeling's most definitely mutual,” he said just as honestly, getting pretty good at this hugging thing, even if he did say so himself. His life had improved in so many ways – large and small – since meeting Luke.

Pulling back for a moment, Luke then swooped back in but this time for a kiss. It was hard, fast, and when it ended, the heat in his eyes was unmistakeable.

“You sure?” Reid asked. “This special enough for you?” That wasn't even to make fun, not really, just to double-check that it was what Luke really wanted.

“Yeah,” Luke said seriously, holding Reid's gaze. “You were right. It was always going to be special.”

Luke was just as lively and just as much fun to keep up with in bed as he was everywhere else. He had no problem communicating his wants, approached everything with enthusiasm and had no issue at all with Reid's older body – though the yoga had obviously helped.

“You're beautiful,” Luke breathed out at one point, panting on top of him, and Reid actually believed him.

Much later, Reid called a halt to proceedings – only half-joking that his aged body could take so much. He was in damn good shape, he knew that, but Luke was most-definitely still in his prime.

Luke got a damp washcloth to clear the worst of the mess off, and then they just spent the next five minutes nuzzling at each other.

Reid literally spent five minutes. Nuzzling with another human being. And he loved it.

Luke was pressed up against him, lazily running his nails across Reid's chest, when he spoke. “Noah was my first.”

Reid let out a long, satisfied breath. “Lover? Or relationship?”

“Both,” he replied. 

“Is that why you wanted to wait?”

“Yes and no?” he shrugged. “He wasn't the only guy I ever had sex with – I had a one night stand a couple of years ago, just to see what it was like.”

Reid had certainly done the same. “How'd that turn out?”

“It felt good,” he said, “but that was about it. Having sex without caring about someone just isn't my thing.”

“Lucky for me,” Reid smiled, angling his head so they could see each other.

Grinning, Luke leaned up to give him a peck on the lips before settling back down. “It seems I'm doomed to a life as a serial monogamist.”

“Take the 'serial' part out of that and I don't have any issue with that at all,” he said honestly.

Scrunching his face up happily, Luke burrowed closer. “Anyway, Noah-”

“Do we really have to talk about that jerkface?” It was kind of ruining the afterglow.

“Jerkface?” Luke frowned. “You don't even know him.”

“No, but I have been reading your books,” Reid pointed out, “and maybe the circumstances weren't exactly the same, but I've read enough – and heard enough from you – to know he treated you like crap.”

“Can't disagree with any of that,” Luke said after thinking about it for a while. “But I'm going somewhere with this. I swear, from this point forward,” he held up the three middle fingers of his right hand, “I will no longer mention Noah when we have sex.”

“You were actually in the Boy Scouts, I _knew_ it-”

Laughing, Luke shoved at him playfully. When they both stopped grinning, he finally got to the point. “What I was trying to say is that he was my first – only – relationship. And he really messed me up.” Reid pulled him closer, offering comfort. “When I finally broke up with him I didn't want to be a relationship for a long time. I needed to focus on me, you know? It felt like I was with him for such a long time, I needed to remind myself who I was when he wasn't around.”

“Makes sense,” Reid remarked, “probably smart.”

“And I like who I am,” Luke said confidently. “I'm not perfect but I like myself, and that's the only thing that really matters. And when I made it clear that I liked you,” he continued, “I was so confident. I knew you liked me too – just how I'd always known with Noah – and I didn't even realise the sex thing was going to be an issue until it suddenly was.”

It'd honestly never been an issue for Reid. “There's nothing wrong with waiting until it feels right.” Frankly, it was what everyone should do.

“I know that,” Luke told him, “and to be honest it felt right a while ago, but he got in my head again. I was so annoyed at myself, I thought I was over everything he put me through, but this, with you...” He shifted up until he could look down at Reid's face. “It'd be the first time since him that meant something, you know?”

“Yeah,” Reid said seriously, reaching up a hand to touch Luke's face, “I know.”

“And it's fair to say,” he said wryly, “sex was another area of our relationship where we had issues.”

Reid was beginning to suspect there wasn't a single part of their relationship that hadn't had issues. “Now that's just crazy talk.”

Grinning again, Luke sank back down next to him. “Anyway, that's my messed-up sexual history. You?”

“I had nothing so...involved. My sexual history is a lot less traumatic, I guess, because it never meant anything.” Luke just looked at him, judgement-free. Reid did a quick calculation in his head. “Five..six guys total? One was for a couple of months, but it was only about sex.”

“I would've thought more,” Luke told him, “I mean,” he gestured at Reid's chest, “look at you.”

“You're one to talk,” because honestly, how were guys not banging down doors for a chance to bang Luke? “In any case, my personality puts a lot of people off and I'm not the type to go trolling for one night stands all the time, either.” Reid certainly enjoyed sex, but work had always been the priority. “Plus, I got really good at jerking myself off. And then some.” He had a nice collection of toys that he played with when he was in the mood.

“I'd like to see that sometime,” Luke leered with a wicked grin and oh yeah, that was definitely going to be happening. Reid was just leaning in for a kiss when an alarm sounded somewhere nearby.

“Oh!” Quickly sliding off the bed, Luke found his pants and dug the phone out of the pocket. Turning it off, he spun back around to Reid. “Don't move, I'll be right back.”

Reid had no idea what was going on but had no intention of moving. Instead, he kept lounging in bed and watched as Luke ran out of the bedroom naked, then ran back into the bedroom to grab his clothes. Luke shoved everything on quickly, nearly braining himself in the process, then ran out of the room again.

Reid must have dozed for a little while after that, because it was only when Luke stood in the doorway singing Happy Birthday that he became aware of anything again and realised that it must've hit midnight. Though he had to endure Luke's terrible singing and pretended to hate every second of it, it did make him smile.

Luke, because he was the best boyfriend, was holding an enormous cake that had _Happy 40th, Reid!_ piped on it. There was even a stethoscope made out of fondant.

Luke, because he was also the worst boyfriend, had also bought Reid a subscription to a pug magazine.

“It's all mostly online this days,” Luke told him, where he sat next to Reid scoffing down a piece of birthday cake. Reid had objected, at first, saying they should put a towel down if they were going to get crumbs everywhere.

Luke then pointed out they'd already got come everywhere and Reid knew he'd lost the argument.

“But you get access to exclusive pictures and content,” Luke continued. “And there's a forum where you can interact with other pug lovers.”

“Please don't say 'pug lovers' when we've just had sex.”

When Luke grinned he had chocolate cake smeared across his teeth and Reid didn't even find it disgusting. Lowering his fork and plate, his face turned more serious. “You know you don't have to be embarrassed about liking that stuff, right? I know we joke around and tease each other, but if it makes you happy...then I'm happy.” He leaned in, pressing a kiss against Reid's mouth – making a point to look him in the eyes afterwards. “And you deserve to be happy, Reid.”

Yeah. Yeah, Reid was finally starting to believe that. “As long as you're involved somewhere,” he said truthfully, “that's pretty much guaranteed.”

That earned him an emotional look followed by another kiss, at which point Luke looked from his cake, to Reid's dick, and back again. “I wonder what your dick tastes like with chocolate cake all over it.”

Clean-up was likely to be a pig, but Luke looked so enthusiastic at the idea that he couldn't possibly say no. “Probably still like chocolate cake – but there's only one way to know for sure,” he said magnanimously, stretching out his arms and folding them under his head as Luke started investigating.

Reid was a man of science, after all. They'd only really know the results after complete – and vigorous – testing.

*

“You sure you got this?”

“Yes, Reid, I got this,” Luke rolled his eyes. “Like I said. Thirty seconds ago.”

There was no need for that. “Hey, you were the one who insisted I make sure you get it right.”

“I did,” he conceded, “and now you need to stop being an ass about it.”

Reid only let him get away with it because he knew Luke was nervous.

“Okay, this is it,” Luke announced as they approached Rosie's door, pressing the button beneath the _PLEASE USE DOORBELL_ sign. Apparently thinking of something, he frowned. “How does she-?”

“There are lights, inside,” Reid explained.

“Right, that makes sense,” he nodded, still clearly nervous as he rocked on the balls of his feet.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait very long, as Rosie pulled open the door a few moments later. She'd obviously looked through the peep hole so didn't look surprised to see them – but she did look happy, quickly signing a greeting.

Reid just looked at Luke, who glanced over at him. “Come on. This is all you.”

Setting his shoulders decisively, Luke faced Rosie properly, then said – and signed – slowly and carefully,

_Do you want to eat with us?_

~FINIS


End file.
